Aveline
by NesSelene
Summary: While walking home, Aveline gets chased and gets an accident. After this she isn't in her world anymore, but in Dragon Age. Can she cope in this world? Or is something going on and has she always lived here? This is her story.
1. Chased

_**Aveline is a 20 year old young Lady and is already living together with her boyfriend. They recently bought a house and got a cat and are enjoying their lives together. When she walks back home from a long work day something is not right. She is being chased through the forest and get's an accident. When she wakes up she is not in the same World anymore. How did Aveline end up there? Will she find her way home or is this supposed to be a second chance? Or is this her world after all? This is her story.**_

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

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It felt like it was minus ten degrees outside. When I came out of the building I already had a thick coat on, but after a minute of walking I considered an extra scarf would do no harm, so I made a mental note to bring one the next day. In these days I wished I had a car. A warm comfortable car, which I could have used to get to work. Walking every day wasn't that horrible in the summer really. It was quite nice to walk or to go on my bicycle, but during winters I could slap myself real hard. It's not like it was a five minute walk either. It would take me a while before I was home. I was looking forward to get home, warm up, get a nice hot meal, spend some time annoying my cat and boyfriend, and play Dragon Age for an hour or two before finishing the evening behind the television. I really enjoyed the game, as I've played through it as my female Cousland character. Of course I couldn't resist marrying Alistair, he's like the cutest character in that game!

My thoughts however, now got me standing still in the middle of a silent road which went through the woods for a short while. It usually didn't take long to get out of the woods, but something was off today. I looked at my watch and noticed it was standing still. - _Great.- _Utterly annoyed I looked around. - Y_es, this does seem like the woods I'm used to_.- With a weird feeling in my guts I moved on, and turned on my MP3 player. Maybe some good music could get my thoughts on the right track again. With the music playing, I considered looking on my phone what time it was. I automatically searched my pocket and found my phone. My eyes searched the screen and while I was trying to unlock it, it failed. - _Wonderful, so not only is my watch broken, but now also my phone_. - This certainly wasn't helping my mood. To make it worse, it started snowing. My feet moved faster as I was tired from this long day. The sky already started to turn dark, so I knew I had to hurry if I wanted to be out of the woods before it was completely dark. My eyes were focused on my feet, as the snow was falling in my face and kind of blurred my view. All of the sudden I bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" I said, and I looked up. All I saw was someone totally dressed in black. He, assuming it was a man, even had a hood in black. He slowly turned around and even then I could barely see his face. I stepped back a few paces, and I carefully tried to move around him to continue my journey home. While I did that, I didn't take my eyes of him, and with some hesitation I moved my sight forward again and started following the road, faster than I did before I met this man. The feeling in my gut got worse, and I looked behind only to find the man gone. - _Where did he go? - _When I turned my head back and again bumped into someone. This time I stayed silent and looked what he looked like. He was dressed in….black. My eyes focused on his head and noticed that he also was wearing a hood. The only thing that I could say at that moment was "How….." He turned around and I still couldn't see his face. I took a few paces back again and turned around, only to find another person standing there covered in black. - _So this is how it goes eh? You have me stuck in between you two. -_

Adrenaline was pumping through my body as I had to find a way to get out of here. I turned around again, and noticed the exit of the woods. It was so close yet there was no way I could pass that man without him catching me. The man behind me was now walking towards me. - _The only way out was to my right. Getting in the woods, making a huge circle and get out again while running really fast_. - He was getting closer fast as well.

_- Next time I should take a cab_. - Without taking more time to think I sprinted into the woods. I wasn't to be violated like a doll you can just use and throw away! It was hard to run through the snow in general. It was like sand, takes tons more energy to move forward than running on a normal road. It wasn't that bad yet, as it didn't snow for very long just yet, but I couldn't linger. The woods were closing up, getting darker as I got in further. The branches were hitting my body, no matter how much I tried to push them aside. I didn't look behind me. I didn't want to see how close they were. My gut feeling lightened up a bit after ten minutes of running and I stopped. I had to decide where to go from here. I couldn't see the road anymore, but even worse I couldn't see the exit of the woods. - _Great plan Ave_. - Luckily I couldn't see the two black men either. My feeling told me to go left, which only led to more dark woods. I had a map drawn out in my mind, so that was the only and fastest way out of here. So I moved. This time I was just walking and looking around if I could see anything, or anyone.

After a few minutes of walking in that direction my gut feeling got worse again. Something was not right, apart from the fact that I was in the woods and not the road where I should have been. I carefully looked around and didn't see anyone. I looked in front of me and I still didn't see anyone._ SNAP! _That sounded like someone stepped on a branch. My eyes widened and for a moment I froze. Slowly I moved my head to see if anyone was behind me. It didn't take long to see a long black hooded figure, and this was enough for me to start running. - _RUN FOR YOUR LIFE AVE! -_ I got into part of the woods I didn't know. I couldn't recognize anything, though me thoughts weren't at what I could recognize or not, but at those men who were chasing me. I kept moving and in the distance I saw a darker area. It was like the ground moved downhill or something. When I arrived there, I decided to evaluate quickly if this was something I could drop myself into. Wasn't it too steep? Were there no sharp things in the way even if I was about to try? It was covered like the rest of the woods. All branches, leaves and snow. So that basically gave me no information at all.

I turned around to see where the black dressed men were and saw that they were closing in real fast again. They gave me the creeps, and my feet moved back. They moved back, but there was no ground to put them on. I tried to move around, but it only caused me to land on my side and to fall down. I tried to get on my back so I could steer with my feet a bit, but the second I tried I hit a log with my legs. My upper body crashed into it as a response, and my head followed. I barely even felt the pain. I just saw the world spinning around me as my body moved further. - _HELP!.. - _was the only thing that came out of me. And it wasn't even in speech, but only in my mind. While seeing the world spin around, I got confused. My sight started to blur, and soon after my whole world was black. The last thing I saw was a soft light in the darkness.


	2. New Experiences

**Thank you for reading my first chapter. I noticed the views went up quite a bit! Do leave some reviews too, I would appreciate to know if people enjoy my story. For now, this is all I have to say. Enjoy reading the second chapter!**

My mind started to wake again. Everything was still black. My head was hurting, but I couldn't quite remember why. I tried to slowly move my head to see if it would hurt more. - _Ouch!_ _Of course it would hurt more__,__ silly girl. -_ A groan from the pain escaped my lips, one that I could barely hear. I could hear some sounds from my surroundings and I remembered what happened to me. I wasn't quite myself just yet, but I did remember that I was chased in woods while trying to get home. The sounds around me made me think as if someone was talking. Maybe those two men found me and wanted to finish what they started. I slowly tried to open my eyes, I had to face reality sooner or later. Everything was blurry. There were two persons sitting next to me. After a few blinks my sight cleared up more. _We are in a tent?_ I looked to my left, where the exit was and noticed daylight. The sounds were becoming clearer as well. It was talking and it appeared they were talking to me.

"Are you all right my Lady?" the man asked. Next to the man was an older woman. She looked worried. She was dressed in the weirdest robes I had ever seen. I looked at the man again and noticed he was wearing an armor of some kind. - _Where on earth am I? Who on earth are they! -_ My eyes had widened and I could hear the woman whisper to the man.

"She's very shocked about what has happened to her. Some rest would do her well". The man beside her nodded and the woman moved her hand towards my head and made a weird movement with it.

"No!...I…"

Somehow I couldn't keep my eyes open and felt myself drifting away. This time my world didn't turn black though. It was like I was in a second world, but a bit blurry. It confused me. This felt like a dream, but it also didn't. I never had a dream such as this one. It was like I could move and feel everything. I was back in the woods, though these were very bright. Beautiful sunlight was shining through the trees and it was summer. It was warm, a feeling I embraced. I smiled, though I still had no answer to my question. What is this place? I started to move forward, and suddenly noticed that I was wearing a dress. - _WOW a very low cut dress even. -_ My hair was untied and was hanging around my shoulders. I could feel some sort of headpiece as well. Not like a helmet, but more like a band of some sort. I sat down in a more open area and started to enjoy the sunlight. It was a while ago since I had felt this warmth from the sun. Such great weather! I closed my eyes to absorb everything. When I opened them I saw the sky and it horrified me. It became dark red and it spread around me. Before I knew it there was only a small patch of the place I was and I was standing right on it. I heard some thunder sounds behind me which made me turn around. My eyes widened as I saw two figures standing in the distance. Within a flash they closed the distance by half. I wanted to scream, but found that I couldn't. The two figures were just like those men who chased me before. They were standing next to each other and now they both opened up their arms. _- What is the meaning of this? - _Suddenly I felt being pulled away. - _What on earth do you want now!_ -

_- Wow that was weird. Now where am I?_ - My head still hurt, though not as much as it used to and my mind seemed to be clear again as well. I opened my eyes and I noticed that I was still, or again, in a tent. This time however, nobody was with me. I let out a sigh of relief and tried to sit up. My head was protesting a little bit, but at least I could handle this. With my hands I went through my hair, to try and make it at least a bit decent. I still had my own clothes on as well, except for my coat. I looked around the room to see if maybe it was put aside. Unfortunately, I saw absolutely nothing in the tent. Apparently someone had heard me, because I saw shadows in front of the tent. It looked like the shadow of the old woman who had the weird robes on. I was indeed right, as it turned out when she came into the tent. As a response I grabbed the thin blanket that was put on me and pulled it towards my chest.

"Hello child, do not fear me. I mean you no harm" the woman said with a soft smile.

"Who are you?" I asked her in whisper.

"My name is Wynne" she told me. "We found you in the forest. You were quite hurt as you hit your head on something. Do you remember anything? ". I just kept looking at her. She looked kind enough. She looked like she really meant me no harm. I released my grip on the blanket.

"I….. I remember being chased by two men" I replied. "Ehm, if you don't mind, but… Why are you looking so weird? Same for that man? And what did you do to me when I woke up earlier? And where am I?" I blurred out. I couldn't help myself, but I needed to know. The woman chuckled.

"So many questions you have!" she put her hand on my leg, which my eyes followed. She seemed to notice as she removed it straight away.

"I do not blame you dear. When you woke up earlier, you were in a shock and therefore I let you sleep again. As for our location: we are in Ferelden, in Ostagar to be precise, and you look strange for us as well child. I do not know such clothes as the ones you're wearing so we might have to put you into something more decent after all your questions are answered." The woman said. My mind wondered off to the word Ferelden. I recognized it, though I couldn't place it just yet. - _Wait stupid! Wynne, Ferelden, Ostegar, strange clothes, tents to sleep in. You are in Dragon Age!_ - My eyes widened.

"Is this… Dragon Age?" I asked Wynne.

"Why yes, it certainly is. I am glad we found you in….."

"Nooooo Nononononono this cannot be." I told her. I now shifted so I was sitting on my knees. "This has to be a joke and it's not a good one if I might say so. This cannot be Dragon Age. Dragon Age is a game and far from reality! Dragon Age was made up by the people at Bioware and…. And…." Wynne grabbed my shoulders and I just stared her in her eyes. This felt real. This didn't feel as a dream.

"Calm down child. Why don't you tell me your name first? That would make it easier for me to address you." Wynne said. She looked so calm. She looked slightly worried underneath that calmness though, as if I was mad.

"My name is….. Aveline" I said. "How.." -_did I end up here? - _"Why?..." - _did I end up here? -_ My eyes wondered down to the blankets. I sounded crazy. Tears started to form in my eyes. If I was really in Dragon Age, there was absolutely no way home. No way to get to my boyfriend, no way to get to my cat, no way to get to something as simple as my house, no way of ever seeing those I loved again. With these thoughts in my mind, my tears started to flow and I silently sobbed.

Reality kicked in. I was stuck here all by myself and the woman who by now hugged me, trying to offer me some comfort.

Wynne had left about an hour ago, probably letting me try and swallow everything that I just realized. My tears had stopped by now, and I mostly thought about how I could get home. A whole conversation went on and on in my head.

- _Maybe I should run through the forest again and fall on a rock or hit a tree or something. That seemed to work. I could ask these people here to chase me so we recreate the situation. Else I am stuck here forever, trying to play along in this game. In this so called World. I'll die out here. This is called Ostagar, so this is the place where they're having their battle. The Darkspawn will kill me for sure. Staying here is not an option? I don't have any fighting skills beside my bow and I don't even have my bow here! Do they expect me to stay? Do they expect me to fight and die? Do they expect me to shoot with the other ones, while I had 0 practice time with the bow itself? I doubt I could even hit anything. It hasn't got a sight. Why on earth didn't I practice more without a sight? God I can be so stupid sometimes, especially now. How do I let Dan know I'm still alive? I'm still walking the planet. Will he see me when he plays Dragon Age? Will he know that I am gone? Or is this an alternate universe where I was ported into this place and his memory of me is erased? -_

Without me noticing a man was in my tent. He startled me the second I saw him. He had leather armor in his hands and put them down next to me.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. You were quite lost in your thoughts weren't you?"

"I…. Yes, I was. You're Duncan, right?" Duncan nodded.

"How are you feeling now? Wynne told me that you were quite confused about how you got here." I could see Duncan knew more than that. He knew what I said about this not being real.

"I am feeling fine I guess. I still do not understand how I got here indeed. I know you must think that I am crazy, but there is no way I can make this sound logic to you…." I sighed. I was feeling lost. Just… Lost.

"There is no need for you to explain. Maybe you'll feel better if you can walk a bit. Feel free to explore this camp for today. I do advise you not to wonder off outside the camp though, as that is quite dangerous at the moment. You can wear this armor as well." He said.

"Yes, Darkspawn and such right? …. Thank you Duncan" I stood up and changed into the armor Duncan brought before going outside. It was quite busy. Soldiers were sharpening their weapons; priests were taking care of the wounded. I walked by a camp of mages as well. I stared at them; not believing what I saw was for real. When moving on, I saw someone preaching to some soldiers, who were all kneeled. It was near Duncan, he was standing at the fire as if he was waiting on someone. I moved on and noticed a dog kennel. They had war hounds in there_. - These are Mabari. -_ The kennel master came up to me.

"It doesn't look good for him. He's badly injured. Only a specific flower can give him a chance to be cured, but that is found in the Korcari Wilds. Hey, you're not going in to the Wilds any time soon are you?" he said.

"I'm not sure really, but I will look out for it if I do." I said. I didn't know what I was about to do next. At least, if I would have to go in there, I could try and help the Mabari.

"If you could do that please, thank you" he said to me while he put his hand on my shoulder. I nodded to him and moved on with my walk around the camp. Soon I saw someone talking to a female soldier and by the look on her face she didn't enjoy his company too much. I grinned, knowing that the man that harassed her was called Daveth. My grin faded quickly after I reminded that he was to die at the Joining. He seemed to notice me as he turned around and came walking upon me. I stopped and raised an eyebrow.

"Well you're not what I thought you'd be!" he said.

"Oh? And what did you think I'd be then?" I replied. I crossed my arms awaiting his answer.

"Well, not a woman!" He grinned. - _Great so they are using the same lines as in the game. -_

"Anyway, we've been waiting for you, now that you're here I'd better go and see Duncan" Daveth said as he ran off. - _Waiting for me? He's probably got the wrong person in his mind_. - I walked on towards the area where a priestess was blessing some soldiers. She was talking about the Maker, which triggered something inside me. - _Right, no God, only the Maker. -_ Next to the priestess I saw a warrior standing, carefully listening to what the priestess had to say. He turned around and noticed me staring.

"Oh, you must be the last recruit Duncan was talking about." He said.

"Recruit? No .. I.."

"I didn't know they allowed women to join the Grey Wardens" he interrupted. "Anyway, you must have impressed Duncan, which is good enough for me. My name is Ser Jory, I'm a knight from Highever."

_- Couldn't he just shut up? He obviously had a thing against women fighting or at least he gave me that impression. -_

"I am Aveline, though I think you're mistaken me for…"

"I am sorry to cut you short, but since you're here we better go and find Duncan. He must be waiting already." Ser Jory said as he quickly left. I let out a sigh. - _Great, thank you very much for this enlightening conversation.- _I started to wonder around camp more and found some targets. _Maybe I can find a bow somewhere and practice a bit._ I looked around and didn't see any weapons lying around. Only a merchant, so I walked towards him. Maybe he could help me out.

"Excuse me, but do you have a bow by any chance I could borrow?"

"I have got several actually. Wait, are you a Grey Warden recruit? I'll give you one instead, how about that! What are you looking for, 30 pounds my Lady?"

"Oh no, I'm afraid I have only practiced with 26 pounds so far, have you got a bow for that?" The merchant nodded and gave me a bow and some arrows. I thanked him and walked to the targets. The distance was enough to practice a bit and so I started. It was quite different from the bow I had at home. Indeed no extra's, only a bow. Even worse, I only had three practice months on my name, no more. Despite my lack of experience I managed to hit the target quite well. I was a fast learner in my world, so why not here uh? - _Okay so here goes. Stand properly, straighten your back. Relax. Nock an arrow. Now raise your bow and aim. String on your nose, hand under your chin. Keep the string there. Aaaaand let go! - _After 30 minutes of training I decided to wonder around a bit more. Maybe I could find Duncan and see what he's up to. Maybe I could help him out in any way. I pulled out my arrows and moved over to the fire where he was standing. The knights were still there I noticed, obviously all very impatient. Duncan saw that I was walking towards him, and he actually smiled. - _What is there to smile about. -_ I frowned at Duncan.

"Hello Duncan, I am quite done with exploring camp really. Is there anything I can do for you now that I'm here?"

"Actually, I saw you shooting that bow. I think you wouldn't do so bad as a Grey Warden yourself and we need all recruits we can possibly get, of course those with skill." He said. I stared at Duncan. - _Me? A Grey Warden? Losing my ability to ever get children? Dying for certain after 30 years and actually knowing this? On the other side, what was my chance on getting out of this world. I might be able to help them out. Wait. Am I actually considering this? -_


	3. Grey Wardens

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"Think about it please. In the meantime, can you go and get Alistair? He should have been here by now, we're all waiting for him to continue the joining of these recruits." I looked at the recruits and noticed only Jory and Daveth were standing next to Duncan. - _Where was the PC controlled recruit? -_ I nodded at Duncan and made my leave when he took my wrist.

"Please let me know your answer when you get back if you can. Then we can include you in this joining as well". I nodded and turned around to find this Alistair. I automatically walked into the right direction when my mind wandered off again. - _He said I could think about it, but then again he didn't give me much time at all. Though if he wished, he could conscript me if I say no to him. Would he do that? Would he just conscript me to get another Warden even if I did say no? He would use whatever resource available to fight the blight. In the game he would conscript the Cousland when he or she denied becoming a Grey Warden. "The Darkspawn threat demands that I leave with a recruit". -_ I was now standing in front of Alistair who was having a conversation with the mage in front of him. Well had, as the mage walked of in anger.

"…..blight brings people together" he said. He was now standing in front of me. I didn't even catch the first part of his sentence. I was just looking into his eyes. - _Unbelievable, I am now standing in front of Alistair. The cutest character in the game and even more unbelievable: he looks real! -_ I blinked a couple of times.

"Eh, sorry what?"

"Oh nothing!" he quickly replied back. "Wait, we haven't met have we? You are not another mage are you?" He was now frowning and I couldn't help but giggle at his face.

"Don't worry I am not, but you must be Alistair?"

"That's me, are you Duncan's new recruit? He should have brought one with him besides Ser Jory and Daveth. Have you met them already?"

"I have met both of them yes though I'm still thinking about Duncan's offer to become a Grey Warden. _- It must be useless to explain I'm not a recruit Duncan brought. - _He wants to know what my decision is when we get back" I smiled. "Oh my name is Aveline by the way". I could see Alistair thinking about the offer Duncan gave me. It was as if he found it weird that I still had time to decide, but that I was at Ostagar with them already. Luckily for me he let it go.

"So tell me, have you ever seen a Darkspawn before?"

"Have you?" I kind of wanted to avoid the subject, but I knew this was coming. Hopefully he wouldn't talk about this more.

"Yes though I was unprepared for how scary they were. They smell and they're ugly." Alistair looked as if he could see one in front of him now. He looked disgusted. This would be a good time to head back to Duncan and make my decision. I highly doubted I could ever go back, so why not learn a thing or two here and do some good.

"Let's get back to Duncan shall we? Before he conscripts me into the Wardens for taking too long"

Duncan had explained to the recruits what they needed to find. Alistair would be the one to stay with us as the Junior member of the Grey Wardens. Two tasks had to be fulfilled. One: get a vial each of Darkspawn blood and Two: regain the Grey Warden treaties. He then turned to me.

"Aveline, do you wish to join the Grey Wardens and help us fight in this cause?" he asked.

"I…." I looked to the other recruits. They were eager to leave. I looked at Alistair. His face was neutral though I could see him hoping I would join. Finally I looked back at Duncan again. This was it. _It's now or never._

"I will Duncan" I said. I could only hope I would survive the joining itself. Or even the wilds. The PC controlled recruit would so why wouldn't I? On the other side, it wasn't like I came here in any normal way or something, anything could happen! I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. - _Too many internal discussions going on here._ - I turned around and walked towards the gate which led to the Korcari Wilds. The rest of the group followed and we were given one final warning before we were actually outside the camp.

It looked even larger than it did in the game. The trees were quite high and I remembered I needed to take distance as I just had a bow. I knew what came up so my instincts made me yell out:

"Wolves!" Not long after they indeed came around the corner attacking us. I was in the back with my bow, aiming those furthest away so the rest had time to kill the ones that were nearby. Alistair was taking on some wolves on his own. His fighting skills were quite good! Better than I noticed on the PC screen. Daveth and Jory also attacked from close by. In the distance I saw a wolf running towards Alistair. He was fast and Alistair was already occupied with other wolves. I raised my bow and aimed at his chest. The moment he jumped was the moment I shot my arrow. It landed right into its chest causing it to screech highly and fall down right in front of Alistair. Alistair swung his sword right across the chest of the wolf he was fighting and then looked back.

"Nice shot there!" I smiled at him and we continued our way through the Wilds. When we came at the ruins where the treaties had to be, we already slain quite a few Darkspawn, collected their blood in the given vials, and found the flower which I could give to the kennel master. We walked upon the chest and I sat down in front of it. With my hands I searched in every corner of the chest but _of course_ the treaties weren't in it.

"Well Well, what have we here?" I heard from above us. It was Morrigan. - _This is silly, knowing their names before they officially know mine.- _ I could hear Daveth and Jory arguing and Alistair made his remarks as well. I barely heard them, so I just continued.

"My name is Aveline. Do you know who has got the treaties now?" She was startled that I was so kind to someone who was accused of being the witch of the wilds.

"Well that is a civil greeting, even here in the Wilds! Actually, 'Twas my mother. Follow me if it pleases you" I motioned for the others to follow.

"Don't worry, just come with me. This is our only way of getting the treaties back" I whispered to the others and I followed Morrigan. It didn't take long for them to decide as I heard their mumbling right behind me.

I let out a sigh of relief when we were back in camp. I never knew I was so on edge all that time we were in the Wilds. We now had the treaties and Morrigan had guided us out of the Wilds to our camp. Duncan didn't have to know though so the moment we were standing at the fire near Duncan we just gave him the treaties and our vials of blood.

"Alistair, can you take them to the old ruins for the actual joining." I looked at Alistair. He nodded to Duncan and led the way. His face grew darker. He wasn't cheery anymore. He was nervous. I knew he was hoping all would survive. I grew more nervous as well. - _Will I survive this? Even if the story says I will, or said even. Daveth and Jory will die. Jory due to some foolish attitude. What would I do? I can't go back now. I do not look forward being run through with a dagger either. One way or another I have to go through with this. If I die, then maybe it was just meant to be. -_ I could hear Jory and Daveth having an argument again.

"Will you both shut up!" I snapped.

Duncan came walking towards us with the Joining cup. He put it on the table and let Alistair say the infamous words. It was Daveth who needed to drink first. I closed my eyes, and heard him scream in agony. It seemed to take longer than I thought it would. This death was even more horrible than I could imagine. Ser Jory was next. The knight from Highever, now wanting to back out. I looked at him and shook my head. - _Don't do it Jory, just drink!_ - He didn't see me and he grabbed for his sword. The moment he touched the hilt of his sword his fate was decided. Duncan was no unskilled fighter. All it took were a couple of hits and he pierced through Jory's gut.

"I'm sorry, but the joining is not yet complete" I heard him whisper. - _He's sorry? He can't be sorry. He does what he needs to do. He needs Wardens. - _I was having mixed feelings now. Duncan turned to me. He had the cup ready in his hands and held it out to me. I held my hands out to reach for the cup and noticed they were shivering. I took the cup from Duncan and looked him in the eyes. I then looked at the bodies of Jory and Daveth before I looked towards Alistair. I couldn't delay this any further. Slowly I brought the cup to my mouth and began to drink the blood. It smelled horribly and the second it reached my mouth it burned. It felt as if I just swallowed acid or something. Every single drop of blood I could feel going down my throat. Breathing became more difficult and suddenly my eyes flashed open and I saw a huge dragon. It was looking at me, roaring. It was actually seeing me. I wanted to run away, but my feet were like stone. They were heavy and not able to move. Then everything turned white before turning into a dark forest. It was like a horror movie, the images were flashing like an old movie and in the distance I saw two men dressed in black standing. With each flash they came closer. I ran, as fast as I could though my running images seemed slower than those of the two men. Eventuelly I was at the place where I fell down and I looked back. Everything turned black when they were very close to where I was. I now was home again. I saw Dan sitting on a chair. There was nothing around him, just Dan on a chair. His hands were in his lap and it looked like he was holding something. I was so happy I saw him again. I ran over to him and sat on my knees in front of him. I tried to touch his cheek, but I noticed something was wrong. I couldn't touch him. He didn't see me either! _- Are those tears? -_ Suddenly I heard loud screeching and I woke up. By now my head was pounding like there was no tomorrow. I slowly tried to open my eyes.

"Welcome at the Grey Wardens, Sister" I heard Duncan say. "How are you feeling?" Before I could answer Alistair came on top of that.

"Did you have dreams? I had terrible dreams at my joining."

"These dreams come with being a Warden" Duncan explained. "There is enough time to tell you that once the upcoming battle is over".

"Oh, one last thing to finish your joining. Here" Alistair gave me a pendant with a drop of Darkspawn blood. I took it from him and put it around my neck.

"The king requires our presence when you're good to go" Duncan said.

"Why would the king require my presence if he does not know me?" I asked him. I was confused. We never met. What business would I have with the King? _-I never saw the PC controlled player. Does that mean that I am supposed to be that person?_ - Duncan chuckled.

"Do not let the King waiting, Aveline."he said and made his leave.

"I am glad at least one of you survived" he said while he put his hand on my shoulder. I put my hand on the vial of Darkspawn blood and nodded to Alistair. I watched him as he turned around and made his way into camp. I started to walk towards the Duncan. I moved slow and looked at the sky. - _This is crazy, that dream! Does Dan know I'm missing? What on earth is going on! - _I stood still in between where I started walking and where I needed to be. Everything looked so peaceful. Did I have a chance? I missed my world. I missed Dan. I missed what I had build up back home. I missed regular things, like watching movies. I missed the kind of music I was used to. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. - _There is absolutely no way back anymore. I have to go through with this. -_


	4. New Beginnings

**Chapter 4: New beginnings**

_- I need to stop thinking about this as if it was a game. I am in it now, and I could get hurt or killed. I can better prepare myself for what's to come. -_ With this out of my system I made my way to the King. I wondered why he requested my presence as he obviously hadn't met me before, but maybe that was exactly his reason. The King was discussing his strategies with Teyrn Loghain. I walked over to Duncan and stood still next to him while watching the discussion. Finally the King turned around.

"Ah, I understand congratulations are in order. You should be honored to join the ranks of the Grey Wardens" he said.

"Thank you your majesty" I replied with giving a small courtesy.

"You rely too much on these Wardens Cailan" Teyrn Loghain interfered. This brought up a start of another discussion which luckily Loghain cut short with telling the strategies. Cailan wished for me and Alistair to go to the tower and light it as soon as Loghain would give the signal to. When the meeting was over, Duncan and I walked over to the fire where everything started. It seemed to be his comfort place as we kept meeting here. Alistair was already there and Duncan turned his attention to the both of us, informing Alistair what needed to be done. I looked at Alistair and saw he wasn't pleased with this decision. He wanted to fight with Duncan on the main field. I felt sorry for him already, but I knew it would make no difference.

"So he needs to Grey Wardens standing up there holding the torch. Just in case, right?"

"I agree with Alistair, we should be in the battle."

"It is by the Kings request Alistair."

"I get it. I get it. Just so you know, if the King ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no!" I couldn't hold back my laugh at that.

"I think I'd like to see that" I replied with a huge smile on my face. Duncan however, did not look so happy. After letting us know our final instructions we ran off towards the bridge which we had to cross to get to the tower. Everybody was ready, and awaiting the enemy. Everyone could feel the tension in the air. Duncan was on his way to the King. When I looked down I saw the King standing on the ridge. Waiting till he could see the enemy and give out his orders, waiting for Duncan to confirm that the fight would go well. Cailan, Alistair's brother. The one who was about to die quite soon, in the most horrible way I could imagine. Duncan, who soon would have to give his life while seeing, knowing, the beacon had been lit. I shook my head trying to get rid of that image, trying to focus on the battle I now had to participate in myself. Alistair took my wrist.

"We need to go, the fight is starting and we need to get up in the tower" I nodded, I could see the darkspawn coming and it wouldn't take long until the bridge was under fire. We made haste trying to get over the bridge as soon as possible. I had heard Cailan shouting his orders already and Archers were shooting their arrows. All of the sudden I heard a large '_Wooooooossshhh'_ sound in the sky and looked to see what was going on. I saw a huge flaming ball coming towards us and I started to run as fast as I could. Alistair who was in front of me was my beacon of where to run and what was far enough. The ball landed and knocked some soldiers down. They weren't badly injured as most saw it coming so they went straight back to do what they were doing.

"Christ, that was close…." I said in between my breaths. "Well let's get to the tower shall we?" I walked past Alistair.

"Christ? What is Christ? Aveline?" I turned around to face him.

"Oh …I ehm… It's difficult to explain" I said, and I was suddenly feeling horrible. I realized what was back home again. Before I could actually try to think of an explanation, a soldier and a man in a robe, - _Mage, Aveline, he is a Mage -_, coming up towards us.

"Are you Grey Wardens?" The soldier asked. We both nodded.

"The tower is lost. The Darkspawn have taken it." - _Oh dear.. here we go. I have to fight now. For real. With my bow. I won't be surprised if I get killed._ –

"Then we have to go and clear the whole tower" Alistair said and he shot a look at me.

"Alright, Alistair you take them on you, I'll shoot them down from a distance. Soldier you go and help Alistair with forming the front of our little team here. Ser Mage, you just do your thing I suppose?" I started moving towards the tower and we came across our first pack of Darkspawn. I still had to be careful, and every now and then one would focus itself on me, but Alistair noticed everything quick and took care of them with the Soldier, or my arrow found his head first. With this strategy we moved up into the tower and cleared the first bit. When we moved up we saw more Darkspawn. This whole tower was indeed taken.

"Where did these Darkspawn come from!" Alistair said. I looked back at him, and he actually was mad for the Darkspawn to be here, which made me giggle. When that got his attention I tried to stop.

"Alistair, weren't you complaining before you didn't get to fight?"

"Hey, you're right. I guess there is a silver lining here!" he proudly said.

"Let's go, we need to move fast if we want to be in time." Alistair nodded.

"Yes, Loghain probably already has given the signal by now." We moved further and reached the final stairs to the top floor. - _This is where we need to light the beacon_. - I ran up the stairs and crashed into the room, anxious to get the beacon on as we were quite late already. Before we could even spot where the beacon was, Alistair and I both stopped. There was a giant ogre standing in the middle of the room and with all we noise we made when we came in we now got its attention.

"Ooooooh my….." I whispered. - _He is huge! How are we ever going to defeat him! This mage is not a healer I can tell! -_ I tossed some potions I had between the members of our little party and motioned for Alistair to rush in. The ogre roared as Alistair ran in, and I quickly moved to my right so I had enough room to shoot my arrows without hitting anyone. The soldier ran to the ogre to fight it in close combat as well and the mage used its spells to try and get the ogre down. My arrows barely stayed on the ogre. Its skin was tough. I could see Alistair was struggling as well to get the ogre down. I stopped shooting and whistled to the ogre to get its attention. It worked and he was now looking to me. Slowly he made his way over, and I saw Alistair thought I was crazy. I raised my bow with an already nocked arrow and aimed on his eye. - _This better do some damage now. -_ I released it, and it landed perfectly! Right in his left eye! Now that it was focused on its pain Alistair could finish it. He jumped on the ogre and slashed his sword into its chest. The ogre fell with Alistair on top of it and I ran to them.

"Alistair, are you all right?"

"Yes, light the beacon quickly, we're late already" While the mage and soldier were catching their breaths, and Alistair pulled his sword out the ogre. I ran over to the beacon and lit it. I walked over to the window and searched for Loghain's army.

"Don't they see the beacon? They must see the beacon." Alistair ran to the window where I was standing.

"What? Look Ave! Teyrn Loghain is leaving! We've got to go help them! We need to let them know we lit the beacon."

"Loghain does know we lit the beacon Alistair." I saw Alistair making his way to the door when Darkspawn crashed in.

"For crying out loud…" Before I could finish the Darkspawn shot both me and Alistair as we were still too far away from the door. The mage and soldier however were near the Darkspawn and tried to defend themselves as the Darkspawn attacked them. The last thing I saw was that the throat of the mage was sliced through. I looked to my right out of the window. Birds, all I could see were the clouds and the birds. The pain of the arrows was too much, and I fainted.

A giant bird crashed into the roof of the tower, knocking away any Darkspawn that were near. At the door were the bodies of a soldier and a mage. They were not what was needed. Ignoring their corpses the bird picked up the young woman and man who were near the beacon. Careful not to push in any arrows further the bird spread its wings and made its way to leave. With a screeching sound the wings started to flap which kept the Darkspawn away as well. It had limited time as the body of the young woman wasn't moving anymore. The man did seem to stir. After a few minutes of flying it came across the Wilds where everything for these Wardens was ready. They needed to be saved, and quickly.

Everything moved slow. I was running through the forest. I was afraid. It was misty and two dark figures were running after me. I tripped over a root and fell down. I fell into a giant hole. My body kept falling down until I was on a huge platform. A dragon as placed in the middle and I could see all kinds of battle equipment. People were fighting the dragon and my body moved towards it as well. I tried to lift a huge sword that was next to me, but I couldn't. It was too heavy. The dragon used a fire attack on me and I burned while falling on my knees. I screamed, though I didn't make any sounds at all. Suddenly a white flash blinded me and I was now on a rock with the giant dragon. He looked at me. I looked around, but there was nobody to help me. The sky was dark and had touches of red in it as if it was tainted. I head a dark whisper. It was coming from everywhere, though I knew it must be the dragon.

"You will fail. This is our age. This is our time." I didn't know what to say. Suddenly thousands of voices were whispering all at their own speed.

" You will fail… You will fail…" I shook my head. _– No, failing is not an option. –_

" You will fail… You will fail… You will fail…"

"Nooooooooo!" I yelled, and sat right up in one move. My eyes were as open as they could be, and I felt I was sweating. - _This was horrible. –_ I looked around and saw I was in a hut. _– Wait, this is Morrigan's hut! –_

"Ah, your eyes finally open. Mother shall be pleased. She wished to see you when you would awake" Morrigan said.

"Morrigan!"

"That is indeed my name lest you have forgotten. Do you remember anything of what happened?" she asked.

"I remember we were in a tower to light the beacon, and that we were shot"

"You do not remember that mother saved you? She turned into a giant bird and was able to save you and your fellow Warden"

"Alistair! Is he all right?"

"Yes he it, though he is being childish." I stared at Morrigan and decided not to respond on that. I checked my body if I could see traces of where the arrows went in. I felt okay enough considering what has happened.

"Were my injuries severe?" I asked.

"They were, but it was nothing mother could not heal." I was glad that I was saved by Morrigan's mother, and glad Alistair got saved as well. I remembered seeing the Mage and Soldier getting killed in the tower. I remembered looking out the window, seeing Teyrn Loghain leaving.

"The King! The Wardens….." I stared at Morrigan. Of course I already knew the answer, but I couldn't leave this unchecked.

"The man who was to respond to your signal quit the field. The King and the other Wardens were slaughtered." I nodded and sighed.

"Thank you for saving us Morrigan. I'd better go and see your Mother."

"I.. You are welcome, though mother did most of the work, I am no healer. I'll go and make something to eat." Morrigan turned around and worked on her stew. It smelled great and reminded me highly of how long I haven't eaten yet. – _I'm starving!_ – After I put on my armor I walked outside. Alistair was standing near the lake, thinking of his losses no doubt. Morrigan's mother, Flemeth, was standing next to him. She turned around the second I closed the door of the hut.

"See? Your fellow Warden is awake. I told you she would be all right."

"You!" Alistair said. He quickly walked over towards me and gave me a crushing hug.

"Air!..." I whispered.

"Oh I'm sorry Aveline. You're alive! I thought I was going to be the only one left! I can't believe what has happened. I am grateful Morrigan's mother was able to save us."

"Do not speak of me as if I'm not present lad" Morrigan's mother intervened.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to….. You never told us your name?" Alistair said, now turned towards the old woman.

"The chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose that will do" she said.

"Daveth was right! You are the witch of the wilds." Alistair gasped.

"Why would Loghain do this? We must do something about him Alistair." I said, trying to change the subject into what it should be about.

"I don't know" Alistair replied back "he left them all to die, the King, Duncan…. We must bring Loghain to justice! We can go and see Arl Eamon. He is a respected man in the Landsmeet, he can help!"

"Yes, but we've also got a blight to get rid of. Aren't there any allies we can find?"

"Of course!" Alistair's face lit up "The treaties! We can demand the help of Elves, Dwarves and Magi during a blight to help the Wardens!"

With our goal now in our minds we decided to use the treaties and ask for their help. Flemeth suggested Morrigan to go with us as she knew the way out of the Wilds. If we didn't want her with us after that we could tell her, otherwise Morrigan would continue to join us in our quest. Our first stop would be at Lothering. A small village, not too far away from where we were standing this very moment. After Morrigan got her things and said farewell to her mother we moved towards Lothering. This was the first real step of our journey.


	5. Lothering

**Thank you very much for all the reading-Alerts-Faves-and Reviews. I appreciate them all and hope you stick around to see how this story continues.**

**Also, my special thanks goes out to my beta, missawesome1213! I really appreciate your help in this one :)**

Our little party now made way towards Lothering. Alistair was quiet and Morrigan was only being a nuisance to him. She didn't seem to understand how it was, losing someone you cared about. We were about half way when in the distance we heard barking. I narrowed my eyes to see what was coming towards us and saw that it was a Mabari. – _I thought they all died at Ostagar! –_ I smiled and sat down as the Mabari was now standing in front of me with its wagging tail. I stroked the dog, much to Morrigan's dismay, and noticed that he brought a group of Darkspawn.

"Good boy, let's kill these now shall we?" I said to the dog as I got my bow off my back. The dog was running towards the group of Darkspawn, and so did Alistair. The group of Darkspawn died quite fast and the dog ran towards me again. I sat down, and it started licking my face.

"Oh… ew… don't boy! Sit!"

"It looks like this dog has chosen you." Alistair said.

"Me? Don't you want him Alistair? You could be close friends I'm sure!"

"Oh no no no, that would not be a good idea. I could barely take care of myself let alone a dog. You're on your own on this one." he said while smiling.

"All right then. Welcome in our little party! Now how shall we name you huh?"

"Name him Mangy Mutt for that is what he is," Morrigan snapped. "You are not seriously considering of taking that mutt with us are you?"

"Of course I am, Morrigan. We cannot leave him out here just like that? Oh I know. We will name you Feonar!"

Feonar barked happily, agreeing to the name. I scratched him behind his ears and stood up.

"Okay let's go. It's time to reach Lothering!" The group continued making its way to Lothering. There weren't many issues on the road, and certainly not any Darkspawn apart from the group Feonar brought. When we arrived at Lothering, we saw a group standing, blocking the way. When they saw us they came walking upon us, requesting money as toll. I refused since I wasn't planning on paying them any money. They weren't pleased with my decision and attacked us. I was standing in front, which made me the first target. The leader raised his sword to hit me with, and I quickly backed up, making way for Alistair to block the attack. Feonar attacked as well and the bandits stayed focused on them. I raised my bow and shot the outside bandits first. Morrigan froze the group from the side, not hitting any of us, and electrified them. This killed the bandits.

"I really should learn close combat" I said while putting my bow on my back.

"Oh I can only teach you how to use swords, two handed or one handed." Alistair said. I nodded.

"Thank you Alistair. I'm not sure if I can wield one without falling over though. Maybe we get a companion who does use daggers, and wants to teach me that." In my mind I had the woman with bright red hair, using daggers. I would have to ask her and then I could defend myself when someone attacked me instead of back out of the close combat fight and let someone else take over. I saw the corpse of the knight who was near the edge of these roads, and I looked into his pocket for the note and the locket. After that we walked over to the stairs where Alistair seemed to be snapped out of his thoughts.

"Here it is, Lothering. Pretty as a painting!"

"Oh you have finally decided to come back to us have you? Was falling on your blade too much of an effort?" Morrigan said.

"Stop it Morrigan, give him a break." I replied back. I felt there was absolutely no need to treat him like that. "What did you want to talk about Alistair?" I asked. When Morrigan wanted to say something again, I quickly shot her a look and she actually listened to me.

"We'll need to decide what to do. Have you looked at the treaties?" Alistair asked.

"I have. I think we should go and pay Arl Eamon a visit first and then move further from there."

"I agree. Let me know if you need directions or anything" he said. I looked at Alistair and took him away from the group.

"Do you ehm…. want to talk about Duncan?" I asked.

"You don't have to do that, you didn't know him as well as I did."

"That doesn't mean I do not mourn his loss." I said with a sad look on my face.

"I…. I'm sorry. I should have handled things better. Duncan warned me right from the beginning something like this could happen."

"There is no need to apologize."

"I think he said he was from Highever. Maybe I will go up there and put something up to remind him."

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe I can go with you."

"I'd like that. Duncan too I think. Have you lost anyone close to you? I don't mean to pry but…." Alistair's question made me think back about what I had. In a way I did lose my whole family. I lost my whole world. Everything I had built up back home.

"In a way I lost my whole family…." I said. I didn't know how to explain this. - _I can't just say that I ended up at Ostagar just like that. That I was chased by two weird men, then got an accident, then was in a tent with Wynne and Duncan_. -

"Oh I'm sorry… Thank you, really. It helped to talk about it, at least a little."

"No problem Alistair." I said with a smile on my face. "Now let's go shall we?" I said while passing him and leading the way. Morrigan and Feonar followed automatically. In Lothering we met an Elven family who had been robbed by the bandits on the road. I told them that those bandits were killed and they went back to try and collect their things, happy knowing that other people wouldn't have to deal with them. There was also a merchant near the Chantry, trying to ask high prices for things he bought not even a week ago from the same people. _– What the blight does to these people eh? –_ With some persuading he agreed not to charge outrageous prices and we were quickly on our way towards the chantry. In front of it was a board, which had all kind of jobs on it. I accepted what was on it and later on talked to the guy who decided scaring everyone was a good idea. I was glad that he left quickly after my words and we went into the Chantry. It was a mess. There were people everywhere and everyone was scared. Inside I let the Templars know that the bandits were now dead and we went to Ser Donnel to let him know his friend had died on the road. He thanked us for giving him his locket and the note. He was also the one who notified us that Arl Eamon was gravely ill. Deciding we shouldn't linger too long around here we moved on towards the tavern. A surprise awaited us in the tavern though. A group of men, sent by Loghain, were waiting for us. They didn't accept to talk and it turned out into a fight where a cloister sister came to help us. After the fight was over, and we sent the men running away from Lothering, we spoke to the cloister sister.

"Those men said you were Grey Wardens no? My name is Leliana and I am coming with you!" She startled me for a second. _– Wow she is direct isn't she?_ –

"Well, we can use all the help we can get of course. Tell me though, what makes you think we need your help?"

"As you said, because you need it and also because… the Maker told me so."

"More crazy eh?" Alistair whispered

"Okay you're in. Welcome Leliana!" I said. "Oh and you can put this on instead, that will make the fighting to easier I assume." I gave Leliana a set of leather armor we collected from our journey towards Lothering. Morrigan was not so pleased with my decision.

"Your head must be cracked worse than mother thought." She mumbled. I decided to ignore her comment and continue. Now with Leliana on our side things should even progress faster. We talked to Sten who was caged not too far away and did some quests in order to earn some money. After that Leliana talked to the Revered Mother, asking her if she could let Sten go and come with us. He would do no harm, plus I didn't want to leave him out there. She agreed and gave the keys to Leliana. When he got out we got him in some chainmail we found. It was likely that we would find something better for him soon, but this would have to do for now. When we had done all that could be done in Lothering we decided to hit the roads again. It was time we were going to set up camp and have a good night rest. When we walked up the stairs however, we heard two dwarves, scared and asking for help. They were attacked by a group of Darkspawn. Without thinking we all moved forward and killed the group. They died really fast, which wasn't a surprise considering we had a large party right now. Leliana looted the corpses while I checked some crates in the surroundings. After thanking us the dwarves decided not to come with us. They were harmless so it didn't trouble me to tell them we were Grey Wardens. We said farewell to the dwarves and made way to a good spot for camp.

In camp, after we all set up our tents, Sten made the stew. While he was working on that, Leliana taught me how to use the daggers I found. It was like I was born using them which I found quite strange as I never did. I managed to block a good number of her attacks. From the moment she attacked me I knew what to do. It was like my body responded on its own which I found quite strange. After we trained, and I was sure I could very well defend myself _– I can defend myself better than I thought possible –_ we ate and got ready to go to sleep. Morrigan was already gone after dinner and Leliana and Sten were talking together while Alistair was busy with Feonar, fascinated on how much Feonar understood. I found myself a spot at the lake and decided to wash myself. We had met so many people today, and things had been so weird lately that my head felt full. It felt like I had too much information in there all stuffed, ready to explode if anything else would try to join. After I undressed myself I quickly walked in. The water was cold, and absolutely not what I was used to. I decided to swim back and forth and take the occasional dive. When I was in the middle of the lake I suddenly heard some sounds. I looked back to camp, trying not to splash any water as I wanted to hear if it was coming from my new party members. Suddenly I got pulled under water. I tried to keep myself up for as long as possible and tried to scream. _– I have to get up again! I cannot stay under water for so long! –_ I felt myself weaken and I kept struggling against it. I wasn't going down like this!

I was in the forest, lying on my back. I felt something liquid on my head. When I felt on it and looked at my hand, I saw it was blood. My blood? Two men were standing over me, watching. I looked back at them and noticed that their hoods were more open. I could now actually see their face a bit. I looked at the face of the person who was at the left of me. I recognized him, wasn't he a friend of Dan? I looked at the right to the other man standing there. My eyes widened in shock. _– No, this can't be. He couldn't have done that…. –_

Everything got black and I was back in the water. I was still conscious and noticed I wasn't being kept down anymore and I swam up and went to shore quickly. I coughed as I did get some water in my lungs. _– What was that? He couldn't really have done that to me? I saw him crying! I swear I saw him crying!_ – I got dressed quickly and lay down on my back, looking at the stars. My lungs still hurt a bit and I absolutely did not feel like going back to camp right now. Tears started to flow. If what just happened was real, then he had betrayed me. He had made a fool of our relationship. Something was wrong however. I knew Dan and what he had done now. It seemed like I forgot something. We had a cat had we not? I sat up and bit my lip. _– Think Ave, this is silly. This was your life. You surely remember that don't you?_ – Everything seemed so distant.

"Hey, are you all right?" I was so deep in my thoughts that he made me jump.

"Alistair! Dear Maker, don't sneak up on me like that will you?" I said while grabbing my chest with a smile. He walked towards me and sat down next to me. _– Wait, did I just say Dear Maker?"_ -

"Sorry" he said "but you were gone for quite a while, and we thought we heard you splashing around so I thought I'd check up on you. Are you okay?" He looked worried.

"Well.. I'm not really." I sighed "Look, there's something I need to tell you. Well, explain that is. I have got no idea how I ended up here. And I do not mean this place, but I mean this whole world. I had a whole life built up at… _- That is weird. What was it called?_ – I was in love, but I just realized the man 'betrayed' me. We had our own place and…. What happened was that I was chased by two men in the forest. From what I could see it was the man and his friend. They wanted to hurt me and so I ran into the forest trying to escape. When I thought I got rid of them they were behind me, I tripped and I…. fell I guess." I pinched the bridge of my nose "That's when I ended up here somehow. I was in this world and Duncan and Wynne had found me I think. When I woke up Wynne made me sleep again and when I woke up again I was in Ostagar. You can guess the rest." I looked at Alistair, he seemed confused.

"Ugh, I must seem like a complete idiot. I know this seems crazy, that I seem crazy, but it's the truth. Though I do not remember everything anymore."

"You do not seem crazy Aveline. It sounds a bit weird, but you seem sincere. I am sorry about what the man did to you. If it makes you feel any better, we're grateful for your company here. I know I am." he smiled "Even though you do tend to say weird things like, what was it again, Christ? What does that mean?" he laughed.

"Let's just say that he's the Maker of that world. Thank you, Alistair. It felt good to talk about it, even though it makes no sense. Not to you, nor me even." Without thinking I hugged Alistair and stood up. Alistair did as well and we walked back to camp.

"I'll get some sleep now. Will you wake me when it's my turn to keep watch?" Alistair nodded. _– Maybe I do belong here. Maybe this is for the best. All I know is that I feel quite good with what has happened… How strange that might seem. -_


	6. Redcliffe

**It took a bit longer than before, but here it is! The next chapter. I hope you enjoy! My thanks goes out to my beta, missawesome1213, and all my readers.**

I was in a room, which seemed to be from my modern times. I looked around, but it was nearly empty. All but a table, a chair and Dan. _– DAN! –_ I wanted to walk over, but I hadn't forgotten what I had seen. He was still holding something, which he now put on the table. _–What is that? –_ That wasn't anything I owned. It was a piece of paper. It seemed like an insurance kind of paper. Was he expecting money from my accident? Out of nowhere he made a fist with his right hand and in anger smashed it on the table. _– This wasn't the Dan I knew._ – Suddenly everything crumbled down and an empty space appeared before I saw the Archdemon. The dragon was on a huge rock and was simply looking at me. It roared a bit, but there were no voices. Suddenly he spit out a huge fire blast which startled me and caused me to wake up with a scream.

"Bad dream eh?" I heard Alistair say.

"It seemed so real."

"It sort of is real. These dreams are part of being a Grey Warden and are supposed to be worse for those joining during a blight. Some older Wardens say they understand the Archdemon a bit, but I certainly can't."

"The dragon is the Archdemon right?"

"Not sure if it is a dragon, but is it the Archdemon yes." I nodded.

"That's one of the joys of a grey Warden along with our short lifespam." I remembered something like this. Grey Wardens would live 30 years give or take. _– Now, where did I hear that?_ _–_

"Ah yes about 30 years right?" I smiled while Alistair nodded this time.

"Let's get going shall we? We're all awake now I think."

~o~

Not long after our party made way to Redcliffe. Right before we were to enter the village Alistair asked if we could talk. He walked away from the others and took me with him. Then he turned to me and revealed that his father was King Maric. It was no surprise to me and I let him know that I thought I understood why he didn't tell me before. Not long after our chat we met Tomas on the bridge. Something was very wrong in Redcliffe. Walking skeletons came from the castle each night to attack the vulnerable townsfolk. Tomas took us to the Chantry where Bann Teagan was standing and informed him that Grey Wardens had arrived.

"Thank you. Tomas, was it?" The young man nodded. Alistair seemed happy to see the man again.

"My name is Bann Teagan. Who might you be?" he asked.

"Bann Teagan! You may not remember me. The last time I saw you I was covered in mud!" Alistair told Teagan which obviously triggered something.

"Alistair? Is that you? It is so good to see you're alive!" Teagan said while taking Alistair's arm in a greeting.

"You as well, Bann Teagan. We're Grey Wardens, and we're looking for Arl Eamon."

"I wish it were under better circumstances though. My brother has fallen gravely ill and the village is under siege. We are not even sure if we will survive the next attack." Sadness filled Teagan his eyes while thinking about this. "Why do you need my brother by the way?"

"We need his help against Loghain" I said. He now looked at me.

"Ah Loghain. I do not trust that lying bastard. I most certainly did not believe all the lies he's spreading around about the Grey Wardens. You seem familiar my lady, is it possible we have met before?" I didn't know what to say to this. _– I did not know him right? How can he recognize me?_ – Confusion filled my mind.

"I….I'm sorry, but I do not know how Bann Teagan." I said "My name is Aveline."

"That name does ring a bell. Well, let's not discuss that here shall we. It must have been your beauty that compells me to know you." He said with a wide grin "But I am too bold my lady." My cheeks were getting hot, It was obvious I was blushing. _– Why was I so sensitive to his flirting?_ -

"Not a problem, my Lord. We will help you tonight, after that we can discuss how to get into the castle and get to Arl Eamon." Teagan nodded and told Thomas to go and tell Murdock what had been discussed. He told us to go to Murdock and Ser Perth to arrange everything for tonight and we made our leave out of the Chantry. I could feel Teagan's eyes burning on my back. At the door we saw a young woman crying. I walked over and asked her what was wrong. After explaining it turned out her brother ran off and she couldn't find him anywhere. She explained where her house was and we reassured her we would get her brother back before we left the Chantry. When the doors closed I felt relieved. Suddenly I was pulled back by Morrigan. I looked at her, confused at why she pulled me back.

"You're not seriously considering helping these people are you? They got themselves into this, and therefore can help themselves out of it as well."

"Morrigan, why are you so against this? We cannot let these people be. They will die for sure if we do not help them."

"If you haven't noticed, there is a Blight to deal with as well. I think we should prioritize things better."

"I know you feel that way Morrigan, but we need Arl Eamon's help. We can use his army along with all those other armies of the treaties. Therefore, we must help these people." Morrigan of course did not like my answer and huffed. In the meantime Leliana, Sten, Feonar and Alistair were at Murdock, telling him what had happened. When I came to join him he told us that the Smith wouldn't make anything anymore for unknown reasons, so we went to the Smith's house. We got him to open the doors and got inside.

"EW! It smells like a brewery in here!" Leliana flapped out.

"Somebody 's been driiiiiiiiiiiinking!" Alistair responded. It turned out that the Smit his daughter was stuck in the Castle. When we promised the Smith that we would get his daughter out, he agreed into making more armor and weapons for the army. We then moved up to Ser Perth. He told us that his men were losing faith and amulets from the Revered Mother would boost their believe for that evening significantly. I told Ser Perth I'd talk to the Revered Mother. I turned around and looked at the group members.

"Guys, we've got some hours until the fight starts. I am going to talk to the Revered Mother. If you wish to go do your own thing a bit, go ahead. We'll meet here in no longer than 3 hours before we go defend Redcliffe."

"I'll go with you" Alistair said to which I nodded.

"Oh Aveline, might I take Feonar with me? I'm sure he doesn't mind?" Leliana said. Feonar barked and I took it that he wanted to go with Leliana.

"Sure, take him along. Be good to Leliana, Feonar!" I told him while scratching him on his head. Leliana walked away with Feonar and Sten. Morrigan went her own way as well. Alistair and I walked towards the Chantry again, hoping the Revered Mother would give us some amulets. Right before we went in, I stood still. Alistair looked back as he noticed it.

"Aveline? What is wrong?" I stayed silent for a minute until I cleared my throat.

"Ehm. Bann Teagan is in there." I said.

"Well yes he is. Is something wrong with him being in there?" He now stood right in front of me, looking me in my eyes. My eyes went to the floor, not facing his.

"Well. No, but ehm... what is he's going to talk to me again? I don't remember him. There is no way I can remember him, and his flirting was quite obvious as well. He was making me feel a bit uncomfortable."

"Aaaah, I understand. If it makes you feel better, I can jump in at the moment it gets awkward?" He said while lifting up my chin so I'd face him.

"I'm just being stupid right?" I said with a grin "Yes, thank you Alistair. Let's go." I could hear him chuckle behind me. We moved to the Revered Mother and I could feel Bann Teagan looking at me again. I didn't want to seem unpolite so I gave him a nod with my head and focussed on the Revered Mother. At first she didn't want to give us the amulets as they would do no good. The only thing they would do was keeping the spirit up of the men, which was exactly the arguement Alistair used to persuade her. It worked and she told me to send Ser Perth, or his men, over to collect the amulets. We thanked the Revered Mother and I didn't know I could get out of a building as fast as I did. Once outside I had to laugh real hard. Alistair got confused I could tell, but he couldn't hold his chuckle.

"I'm sorry, I know it's rude to laugh out loud like this, but this is incredibly silly. Me, not daring to look another man into the eyes only because it feels like I'm betraying something I do not have anymore." I was now standing straight up again. I looked at Alistair. He just stood there, listening to what I had to say. The thought alone made me realize he was incredibly sweet.

"Thank you for listening again Alistair. I know it makes absolutely no sense to you at all, but the fact that you listen to me is very comforting." I smiled. Not awaiting his response I moved to the shore where the boats were and Alistair was right behind me. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and turned me around to face him. He looked at me and with his free hand he put a strand of hair behind my ear. My mouth opened to say something, but no words came out. He let go of my hand for a moment and he took his pack to get something. The moment I saw it was a rose I smiled. He faced me again with the rose in his hand. He put his hand forward.

"Here, you know what this is?" he whispered.

"Well, it looks like a rose!" I replied while I took the rose from him.

"It is a rose yes. I found it in Lothering and I remember thinking how something so beautiful amongst all this could exist." He took my hand which contained the rose in his. "In a way I think exactly the same when I look at you."

"Oh Alistair. That's really sweet of you."

"I hope you like it. Or maybe this was completely wrong?" he said, fishing for the answer he wanted.

"No its perfect! Thank you Alistair."

"Now if we can get to the hot and steamy parts straight away, I'd appreciate it."

"Off with the armor then!" I joked to Alistair. I saw his face reddening completely and chuckled.

"I'll go eh... stand right there... for my blushing to stop. You know..." Alistair quickly said and he ran off. I looked at the rose he just gave me. _- There are no more Dan and I_. - I told myself. Something that wasn't a lie. _- I will not allow him to haunt me like that_. - I smiled and put the rose carefully in my pack. I decided to first go look for the brother of the young woman in the Chantry. She was really upset and I felt it was the least I could do. I arrived at her house which was near the Chantry. The door wasn't locked so it was easy to get in. I looked around and didn't see anyone. It was a small house, but it had all they would need. I moved into the small room which was on the same level and heard some noises from the closet.

"Hello? Bevin? Can you come out please?" I asked.

"Who are you! How do you know my name!" he said while staying in there.

"My name is Aveline. Your sister sent for me to get you. She is really worried about you, you know?"

"She is? All right, I'm coming out." Carefully he opened the door to take a peak outside. After he was sure I wouldn't hurt him, he came out.

"What were you doing in there?"

"I... I wanted to be tough, and use grandpa's sword to help and defend everything." I sat down in front of him and put my hands on his small arms.

"You know, your sister is in the Chantry and I am sure it would mean a lot to her if you would go and see her. It would make her feel better, and I'm sure you'll feel better there as well. You both will be safe there, me and my friends will help defend the village tonight all right?" The boy nodded and smiled to me. He quickly moved out and ran over to the Chantry. When I moved out the house after him, I watched the boy open the big Chantry doors. His sister couldn't be happier! She had been so worried! I closed the door behind me and took a last look at the castle.

I moved on to Ser Perth. He still needed to know that the Revered Mother had those amulets for his knights. I stopped by at the Tavern before going further and noticed an elf sitting in the corner. After talking to Bella about the elf, her boss, and somehow her worksituation, I decided to check out the elf. Nobody knew much of him, and he was here for a while already. Eventually it turned out that the elf was there to keep an eye on the Castle. Maybe he was here to check if Arl Eamon would die or not. The elf told me that Arl Howe hired him. Hearing the name gave me a horrible feeling in the guts. Ignoring the feeling as much as I could, I convinced the elf to fight along with the village that evening. He agreed as he didn't want more trouble. I turned around and saw soldiers sitting in the corner, complaining that they had to pay too much for their drinks. After a chat with the bartender he decided to show his good will and gave the rest for free, causing the soldiers to be much happier. When I finally arrived at Ser Perth I noticed that the party was there already. Alistair was not standing with the rest, obviously still trying to get over his blushing. Which caused me to chuckle again. Leliana grinned at me, and I guessed she knew what happened between me and Alistair. After telling Ser Perth that they could collect the amulets we waited until that evening. The morning after the battle, which went very well, Bann Teagan informed us to go to the mill as he had to talk to us. It wasn't long until we saw the Arlessa running towards us. Teagan decided to go with Isolde and left us with the key for the hidden passage. We moved quickly and found a mage locked up in the dungeon. His name was Jowan, and after some questioning he was the one who poisoned Arl Eamon and he revealed that Connor was showing signs and thus would be a mage. As I did not want to set him free, nor did I want to kill him, we decided to let him stay in there. The whole Castle was filled with skeletons. We fought are way through and rescued the Smith his daugther as well, who was locked up in a closet trying to avoid the creatures. As scared as she was, she was brave enough to run for her life after we told her that we came through a secret tunnel, which was mostly cleared.

When we got to the main hall, we saw Connor. Isolde was standing next to him, looking desperate and Teagan was dancing in front of Connor. He seemed possessed and it turned out he was. I didn't want to argue with the demon, I just wanted him to leave. Of course things were never that easy and the demon got everyone besides Isolde attack us. Feonar was defending me as much as he could and Alistair was nearby as well. I was fighting with my daggers, trying to make the moves I knew. Leliana was the Archer this time and stood with Morrigan far away from us. Sten was already at the other side of the room getting down the soldiers. Somehow Teagan focussed on me. _- Holy shit! -_ He swung his sword at me and I tried to block it with my daggers. I got off balance and had to step back. Feonar bit in Teagan his anckle, but it didn't seem to harm him very much. I didn't want to kill Teagan! We were trying to save them! I tried to defend myself as best as possible for a chance to knock him out. Apparently I had left a spot open in my defense as Teagan saw his chance to lift his sword and slashed it into my stommach. As a response I dropped my daggers, of which the sound of it hitting the ground caused Alistair to look back.

"Aveline!"

Teagan took his sword back and I saw him getting frozen by Morrigan's spell and Alistair quickly knocked him out. Sten pushed his sword into the stommach of another soldier, not caring if he would die or not. Or at least it seemed that way. Isolde was standing now, knowing that the danger had passed. She looked my way, but just stood there. I fell on my knees with my hands over the wound and noticed the last soldiers were nearly down as well. I heard Alistair sitting next to me, he didn't know what to do as I saw his hands going to the wound and back away from it. I looked at Teagan, he wasn't frozen anymore and he seemed alive. I saw his chest moving up and down. I was glad that he made it through. It wasn't his fault what happened, it was the demons fault. Everything seemed to go in slowmotion, the people falling, the movements of my companions, everything. Words flashed back into my memory. _- You will fail. -_


	7. Magic

**The story continues! hereby another update. My thanks for my beta, Missawesome 1213 and of couse for my readers!  
**

I had enough strength to stay on my knees, but I didn't dare to look at the wound. I could barely hear that was going on around me. Only that they seemed to have found the wound and assessed how bad it was. Morrigan came over to me and pushed everyone aside. In the meantime I could see Teagan waking up and sitting down. He turned to look at what happened and saw me sitting on the floor, his eyes widening. Isolde came running up to Teagan asking if he was all right. I saw him nodding and talking to Isolde. Finally I saw a flash of white/yellow-ish light and immidiately felt better. After a minute I realized Morrigan was talking to me.

"Aveline? Aveline! Sit still for a little longer. You shall be fine, though 'twas a nasty wound. I need to put an extra poulice on it and it's done." I nodded to Morrigan.

"Thank you Morrigan.." I said. She looked at me, but stayed silent while putting the bandage on. Alistair came back sitting next to me.

"Dear Maker, Aveline! Do not scare me like that ever again will you!" he whispered. His hand stroke my cheek before he helped me up. I stared down and only saw the blood I lost, but not the wound. There was a puddle underneath my feet, and I felt dizzy a bit when I stood up. I looked at my hands and saw they were drenched. I was still shaking a bit. I closed my eyes for a second before I collected my daggers and walked over to Isolde and Teagan.

"We must free Connor from this demon." I started.

"Oh do not kill my boy please, I beg you! It was the mage. He summoned this demon! I just want to protect my son. Please!" Isolde begged.

"Is you trying to protect Connor not the reason for all of this Isolde? Aveline risked her life just now." Teagan said while looking at me.

"I normally do not suggest this, but the boy stands little chance against the demon unless being killed." Alistair said. I thought Isolde turned crazy.

"WHAT? No! Please, do not kill my Connor! Not my son, please I beg you! There must be another way!" she said. I shook my head. I was not about to kill a boy and Leliana had the same thoughts which she said out loud in response to Alistair.

"I am not going to kill Connor. There must be something else we can do. We can go to the tower for mages to go into the Fade can we not?" I said. Morrigan confirmed this. Maybe we were lucky and she would want to go and confront the demon. I regretted not being a mage myself. I would have used everything in my power to kill that demon. It was decided. We were to go to the tower and get the mages. We had to go there anyway as one of the treaties was for them. I motioned for the others to leave the building and to set foot to camp. I looked forward to some rest. I was just about to go when I heard Teagan.

"Aveline? Might we have a word please?" I didn't turn around straight away and noticed Alistair looking at me, almost saying if I was all right with being alone with him. I nodded to him and turned to Teagan.

"Of course, Teagan. How can I help you?" Teagan dismissed everyone else who was in the room. When they all had left he turned to face me again.

"I am sorry about what I just done. I would not have forgiven myself if a kind and beautiful woman such as yourself would have died by my hand."

"There is nothing to be sorry about Teagan." I said with a frown "You weren't yourself. It was that demon and whoever goes into the Fade when we get the mages, I will ask that person to seriously pain the demon before killing it. Trust me when I say I wish I could go into the Fade myself." I saw him nodding.

"My apologies for going on about this, but I also need to say that you really do seem familiar. We have met before, I am certain of this." I just stared at Teagan.

"Bann Teagan, I assure you there is no way we could have met before. I am not from around here." I said.

"Not from Redcliffe no." Teagan started to pace, his eyes focussed on the ceiling. "I got it! You're their youngest! You're the daughter of Teyrn Cousland! Maker, how could I not see that." he said as he quickly turned around to face me.

"Eh..."

"I am so sorry for not recognizing you Lady Cousland. I should have known that their girl would grow up to such a fine young woman. I'm also very sorry for your loss." He carressed my cheek and put his hands were on my shoulders. I stepped back, causing his hands to fall down. There is no way I could be the daughter of Teyrn Cousland.

"I think there has been some mistake, Bann Teagan. I am not ..."

"No no, definately not a mistake. I know for sure now. Their daughter was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and you match that little girl perfectly. Besides the fact that you've grown older now of course. I am ashamed I did not recognize you to begin with!" I shook my head. This was getting really weird. _- I don't remember being the Cousland daughter. I only remember being chased. _-

"I am glad you got out in time my Lady."

"I... I need to go now Bann Teagan. We need to go to the Tower and get the mages for your nephew." I said while I turned around. He stayed silent and I moved to the door. The others were waiting for me outside and we travelled to our camp, about an hour away from Redcliffe. All that time I was silent. Bann Teagan got me confused. Maybe some rest would do me well.

~o~

The next morning we left early. We were at Lake Calenhad faster than I expected. We already could see the huge Tower from here. At our left was an inn and I could see a few Templars walking around. Moving to the docks one Templar stopped us. He had received the request not to let anybody in. He didn't even believe we were Grey Wardens, but he decided to take us there after all, afraid his boss would be upset if he wouldn't. Once inside, we only saw chaos. People were running around, and we saw a few wounded Templars.

"Are they keeping people out, or in?" I heard Alistair say. In the middle was one Templar giving orders to the rest. He was probably the one we needed so I stepped up to him. He noticed us and stopped us.

"Please, do not come further. I told him not to let anyone pass." he signed. "My name is Gregoir. The Tower is not in a state to receive guests, I'm afraid I must ask you to return."

"My name is Aveline, and we're Grey Wardens. We require the help of the mages." I told Gregoir.

"I am weary of the Grey Wardens ceaseless need for mages. The Tower is lost, as are the mages within it. Demons have taken control."

"Surely there must be survivors in there! We will go and clear the Tower, you cannot let the mages down like this."

"It is too painful to search for survivors and find none. We already asked for Reinforcements and the Right of Annullment so you needn't bother."

"What good will that do? Killing all the mages is not an option is it? As I said, we will go in."

"Fine, do as you please. However, I will only believe the Tower is save if First Enchanter Irving is standing before me." I nodded to Gregoir's request and our group moved in. This part of the Tower wasn't stalked as much as Gregoir said and soon we came in a room where I saw a barrier of some sort. _- Magic. _- There were a few mages here, trying to defend themselves. One with grey hair turned around and we recognized each other.

"Wynne!" I said. I was glad she survived.

"It's you! Grey Warden or no, do not come further. Why are you here?"

"We came asking for the help of the mages for the Blight, and for Bann Teagan's nephew, but Gregoir told us that the Tower was taken. He's asked for the Right of Annullement." I told Wynne. She shook her head. "If we want to stop him, we need to find First Enchanter Irving. Only then will Gregoir believe the Tower is safe again."

"Then we need to move fast. I can remove the barrier once you're ready to go. I will go with you!" she said. I nodded and looked back to my party. We couldn't take everyone as people would just walk in each others way in the small hallways. I selected Alistair and Leliana to go with me and Wynne. Sten, Feonar and Morrigan stayed behind with the mages. I turned back to Wynne.

"All right, we're ready." Wynne let down the barrier and we moved in. Clearing the Tower went quite quickly and I even found something remarkable. It looked like a book. It was black and contained different kind of things for mages. It probably was a Grimoire. _- I'll give this to Morrigan when I get the chance. - _We were nearly at the upper floor when we barged in a room where a large demon was standing over a body. It turned around when we barged in, and not soon after we were all asleep.

~o~

"Aveline?" I felt someone shaking me.

"Aveline? Sweetheart!" I slowly opened my eyes. I looked around and noticed my cat was sitting on the bed. I obviously was back in my room. Dan was sitting next to me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You fell asleep on the sofa, so I brought you up to our room. You were in a really deep sleep. It took me a while to awake you." he said with a smile on his face.

"I did? Oh. I had the weirdest dream ever Dan!" He placed a kiss on my forehead and took my hand.

"Come, let's eat now shall we? We are getting married tomorrow so we have a lot left to do today." _- Married?_ - I looked around and saw my dress covered in a black bag, so Dan wouldn't see it just yet.

"When are my parents going to be here?" I said. Dan turned around, looking surprised.

"Your parents? What are you talking about, Ave? You know your parents died two years ago." _- Died? No, this cannot be._ - I shook my head. I felt a headache coming up. Things didn't feel right. We never decided to get married in the first place. Not that I did not want to, but Dan didn't. _-How come we're getting married now. How come he agreed?_ -

"Dan? What made you change your mind about getting married?" He took my hands into his and looked me in the eye.

"You did, love! How can I resist marrying such a beautiful woman such as yourself. From the moment I saw you I wanted to be your husband." he said while he brushed some hair out of my face.

_- No. -_ "No!"

"No?"

"This is not real. You tricked me. You tricked me in the forest and now you're tricking me here. I will not fall for your lies!" I slapped him in his face.

"You will not get out of here Aveline. You are not meant to get out of here. You can lead the life you always wanted if you stay." it said, trying to seduce me.

"I most certainly will not. Where are my friends!"

"Your friends are beyond rescue. You will not get past me!" With this he started casting a spell. I noticed my daggers were still on me, so I grabbed them and quickly killed the demon. In the distance I saw a pedestal appear and I used it to kill the demons in the other realms, and get my friends out. When we killed the Sloth demon, Niall told us to get the Littany of his body so we could fight Uldred. He didn't come with us as his body had decayed too much for him to survive. Around me I saw Wynne, Alistair and Leliana disappear and I guessed they went back to the real world, and they would wake up now. I looked around, but I was still in the Fade. Niall, who was still standing next to me, was as surprised as I was.

"Why am I not going back? What is wrong? I saved everyone!" I felt a slight touch of panic going through my body. Suddenly everything went white, and it was so bright I couldn't see anymore. Slowly it faded into a Castle. A Castle which felt familiar. It was like I was a ghost and everything was happening in front of me. I saw an image of myself in leather armor going to Bryce Cousland, who was standing with Arl Howe. After some talking, Duncan was invited into the conversation. Next thing I knew, I was going to get my dog with Ser Gilmore and I was talking to Eleanor Cousland. Her friend was still trying to hook me up with her son. A flash later, I was standing with Fergus. He was saying goodbye to his wife and son and our parents came walking in. The whole family was now together. My brother. My mother. My father. My dog. My nephew and his mother. Not long after I was in my room, sleeping, when a guard came in. He came to inform that the Castle was under attack. I got up quickly and got dressed, but the guard was already being killed by Howe's soldiers. I saw I was getting my mother and together we went into the treasure room to try and get the Cousland sword. After succeeding in this, we went into the main hall and helped Ser Gilmore fighting of the soldiers. They went back to barging the door and we continued towards the Servants Exit. When we arrived there, after killing all of Howe's soldiers who were in the way, I saw Bryce Cousland laying on the floor. He had a large puddle of blood around him. Eleanor stayed with Bryce and I saw my image escape. I ran through the forest, and I saw two knights running after me. They had seen me escape and wanted to kill me before I got away for sure. The moment I didn't see the knights anymore I stopped, thinking I was safe. Then I heard a _SNAP_ and my eyes widened. I slowly turned my head and I noticed a figure standing close to me. That was enough to start running again. I felt the adrenaline pomp through my body. Finally I reached a darker part in the forest and I was stopped by a steep hill. When I turned around, I saw the two knights were closing in fast and I stepped back automatically. My foot had no ground to land on though and I fell down. On my way down I hit a log with my legs which caused me body to turn and eventually I hit it with my head before falling down more. Next thing I saw were the two men watching over my body. They had removed their helmets. _- I recognize them! Dan! and Dan's friend!_ - They obviously thought I was dead as there was blood flowing from my head, as they decided to leave. _- They're just leaving me for the wolves!_ - Suddenly I heard a high and loud noise, which made me cover my ears. White flashes interfered what I saw and I passed out. In the end I could swear I heard a whisper saying: "_You... will... remember... and ... forget_."

I woke up in the Tower again. My mind had filled with memories about what happened to my family. The Couslands. Now it seemed real, I really was there when Howe betrayed father. Now I understood Bann Teagan. He recognized me, because he really did meet me. It all came back now. Duncan never got the chance to recruit me while being in Highever, as I was gone before he was at my parents in the larder. It all made sense. I sat down and pinched the bridge of my nose. I saw the rest of my party standing over me.

"Well Aveline, you certainly took your time!" Leliana said. "What happened?"

"Ugh. I don't know Leli. I was stuck when you all left the Fade. I saw... my parents."

"Your parents?" Alistair said "So you do have parents here? I thought your parents were not from around here?"

"My parents died when Howe took over the castle. They were murdered by his hand."

"Why would Howe murder your family?" Wynne asked.

"I don't know. He had always been a friend of the Couslands"

"YOU are the last one of the Couslands? I'm so sorry... my lady!" she gasped.

"Don't. I'm a Grey Warden now. Howe will pay for what he has done." I saw Wynne nodding and Alistair now held his hand out for me to stand up.

"You must have hit your head really hard. I'm glad you remember this now." he said while placing a kiss on my forehead. "Though that story you told me still is quite weird." he chuckled.

"Yes I know. Maybe I'll get some answers for that as well though the rest makes more sense now. Let's take the Littany shall we? We still have to rescue the First Enchanter." I said and with this our party moved up to the top floor. Defeating Uldred turned out quite well, and the Littany did it's job perfectly. No other mages were getting under Uldred's control and the First Enchanter was rescued soon after the fight.


	8. Saving Connor

**Missawesome 1213, you have my thanks for beta-ing my chapters! I'm glad to have someone correct my sometimes silly English sentences! I would also like to thank my readers, well, for reading basically! :) Enjoy the next chapter!**

First Enchanter Irving promised to aid us with the Blight and help us fight Connor's demon in de Fade. He made sure he had all the mages to save Connor and left right away. Our party moved to camp to rest. The others were there as well, and I was pleased to be out of the Tower. Leliana made dinner that evening and while she was doing that, she was singing. _- She has a beautiful voice!_ - We decided to head back to Redcliffe as soon as possible. Who knew what Connor had done while we were gone. We could only hope he didn't cause further damage. When we finished dinner, everybody went to do their own thing. I stood up and moved to the nearest lake. I walked back and forth, thinking about what happened at the Tower. About what I realized while we were there, in the Fade. If I went to sleep, I would automatically go back to the Fade. I did not want to have more of those dreams. They drove me crazy. I knew I was a Cousland. I remembered. Of course there was also the Archdemon. He, or rather it, haunted my dreams nearly every single night. I couldn't wait for it to stop. I sat down at the edge of the water and took some in my hands and splashed my face with it. _- Maybe this can help me stay awake a bit longer._ - as it was bright I could see every star in the sky. I looked up and smiled. -_ Maybe I will get my revenge_. -

When we went back to Redcliffe we crossed the lands of Bann Loren. We were all quite cautious already when we heard some guards in the distance. We slowly moved up and stayed as quiet as possible. I moved forward a bit more to look over the edge what was happening. I could see a man in royal clothing standing amongst the guards. They were targeting him, pushing him around. One of the guards took his dagger out and roughly placed in his body a couple of times. The guards quickly left after that and our party rushed over to the man, who was now passed out on the floor. He already lost a lot of blood. Still, we tried to wake him to check what was going on. What would a person in royal clothes do in these lands? When we got him to wake he told us he was a friend of King Cailan. He was trusted with a key to the royal chest which was at Ostagar. He didn't have the key anymore though, so it meant we had to look for it. He remembered he hid it near a statue in Ostagar. Our next mission was set out for us. After Connor, we were to go to Ostagar and find this chest along with the body of King Cailan. He deserved more than being laid out in the middle of some abandoned battlefield. The man exhaled his last breath and went to rest. He was at the Makers side now. After paying him our respect, we moved on to Redcliffe.

I was now running. We were at Redcliffe Castle and no doubt the mages were already here. I pushed open the large doors of the Castle and came into the main hall. I was indeed right. First Enchanter Irving was standing there along with Bann Teagan, Isolde and a few other mages. They had already prepared for the ritual. I had taken along Morrigan, Wynne and Alistair with me on the last part of the journey. After checking with First Enchanter Irving what needed to be done I looked at Morrigan.

"Morrigan, could you please go into the Fade and kill this demon?" She nodded. She didn't seem too annoyed by my choice for her.

"Before you go... just... don't let this demon die too easily will you?" The mages, including Morrigan, started the ritual and it didn't take long for her body to collapse on the floor. Isolde was hanging on to Bann Teagan's arm and the mages were around Morrigan. They would stay there until she would wake up. Wynne and Alistair had taken their distance from the ritual while I was standing nearby. I just kept looking at Morrigan and wondered how her little kill-the-demon quest would go.

~o~

She didn't feel like taking too long for this mission to be completed. That pesky demon had to die, without too many games. She ignored Arl Eamon, who was standing there, yelling where his son was. She found the image of Connor a bit further away and confronted him.

"Do not play games with me demon, show yourself!" she said. The demon did not like her tone and transformed to its real form, immediately attacking her. She scoffed at the weakness of the demon as all it took to get rid of it was a lightning bolt. The demon was now gone and she moved back into the portal, which transferred her to where the demon now was again. She found Connor again, or rather the demon disquised as Connor, and confronted it one more time. This time it brought some companions, which she all froze and killed. Finally, after repeating this process two more times, she was facing the demon in its full form.

"All right. No more games. You see me in my true form now. What did you like to discuss mortal?" it said with an evil grin.

"Do not take me for a fool, demon! You are well aware you need to die for what you have done. The boy needs to be released." she said.

"Straight to the point, are we! I will not release the boy like that. We could make a deal however, I will stay away for a period of time, and will only come back long long after."

"We have no deal, demon. You nearly killed the Grey Warden. If you didn't know yet, we still need her!" Morrigan was now an inch away from the demon's face "For this alone, you'll need to die." She backed up and started casting a spell. The fight had begun. The demon disappeared every now and then and multiplied on all the platforms around Morrigan. She was easy to be found though as, as she multiplied, she left a glow around her actual self. The demon was now weak and it wouldn't take much for it to die. Morrigan rushed over and grabbed the demon by its neck.

"Ugh. I do not know why I'm taking the effort." she scoffed to herself. Slowly her hands started to glow with electricity, sending bolts in the demon. It screamed and tried to get away though it was useless. Morrigan had killed the demon and freed Connor.

~o~

Finally Morrigan woke up. It wasn't that she took her time to kill the demon, in fact she was quite fast, but everybody was eager to have it dead. Morrigan shot me a look when I helped her up. _- She did what I asked? -_ I smiled in return and soon Isolde's voice interrupted.

"Is it over? Is my Connor free now?"

"He should be." Morrigan said. "We will have to go and see him to be certain though." With this everybody moved up to the room where Connor was. Connor was standing in Arl Eamon's room. He was standing at the wall, reading the names of the books standing there. Without a word, Isolde ran over to his side and hugged him. Connor started laughing, which we all took as a sign the demon was really gone.

"Thank you!" Isolde said. Bann Teagan explained that Connor would be going to the Tower for training once the Blight was over. He was relieved that Connor was his old self again. The only thing that was still wrong was Arl Eamon. He was still in comatose and killing the demon had not brought him back. We all agreed to continue the search of the Urn. That might be the only thing that could cure Arl Eamon. My companions had moved downstairs already when I made my way down there as well. When I came downstairs I saw Eamon's study. I decided to take a peak in there. Long live curiosity right? I noticed a bracelet with the holy symbol of Andraste on it. _- This must be Alistair's. -_ I packed it up and moved towards the bookcase when I heard the door close. I turned around to find Bann Teagan standing against it. _- Not again!_ -

"Lady Cousland." he started. He walked up towards me and I automatically moved back until I was standing against the wall.

"Yes, Bann Teagan?" I saw him smile and he was now very close to me. His hands were softly touching mine. I didn't want to look Bann Teagan in the eyes so I looked down.

"Your healing mage, Wynne I believe, said that your mind was cleared up again. I knew you must have remembered everything again as well. It must have been the shock of what happened which made you forget, my dear Lady." he whispered. I shook my head.

"Bann Teagan, I..." I tried to say while attempting to move away to the door. I wanted nothing more than escape from his reach. Bann Teagan stopped me however and put a finger on my lips to let me stop talking. I didn't dare to move away from him, and shot a look to the door.

"Say nothing more. You must remember as well that I always found you amazing. You being a Grey Warden does not change that. Surely you know that? We both have been flirting to each other during your visits here." Bann Teagan gently took my waist and pushed his against mine. I felt like I was sweating. I did not want this! I had feelings for Alistair, but not Bann Teagan. I remembered my acting during visits to Redcliffe in the past. I didn't know the outcome would be this though! I was young and ignorant. Bann Teagan started to kiss my neck.

"No..." I whispered. I knew he could hear it, but it didn't stop him. He closed whatever space there was between my body and the wall and I now really was stuck. Bann Teagan came up to my cheek with his kisses.

"Bann Teagan, stop. Please." I softly said. He put his forehead on mine, and I now had a desperate look on my face. Desperate to leave this room without a fuss. Who knew what would happen if I let him turn against me. I was afraid he wouldn't help us anymore when the time would come. We needed their help against the Archdemon, but I didn't want to do this in order to keep "peace".

"You don't have to worry. Nobody will come in when the door is closed. The servants know this." He continued what he was doing and I tried to get away from his touch. When he noticed me struggling he took both of my arms and put them against the wall. I could feel him harden against me. When he wanted to kiss me on my lips I moved my head away. He let one hand down and moved a bit away to attempt to put his hand in my pants. _- ENOUGH!_ - I slapped Bann Teagan in his face and quickly moved away from him.

"I said No!" I yelled as loud as I could. Tears were now flowing out of my eyes and I ran out of the study as fast as I could. I ran past Alistair, Wynne and Morrigan, who were standing in the main hall at the fire. The guards were looking confused to each other and I ran passed them as well, through the huge front door. I nearly flew down over the stairs and ran past the gates. I kept on going and didn't stop until I nearly reached the camp. I didn't want to go in there either so I stayed near the so called river. I dropped on my knees and I felt myself shivering. _- This is stupid. I nearly let him rape me. I didn't dare to move away from him._ - Tears were flowing out of my eyes really fast now and I couldn't stop. I felt ashamed, scared and guilty. I could hear the other companions arriving in camp as well and chatter to each other. I tried to silence my sobbing and held my hand in front of my mouth. Finally tears had stopped flowing and I cleaned up my face. When I turned around I saw Leliana standing in front of me. I looked around to see if there were any others with her, but it appeared she was alone.

"What happened in Redcliffe, Aveline? The others told me they saw you run out of there after yelling something."

"I...well... What's the use? You probably think it's stupid anyway." I said while I turned around again.

"I promise I will not think it's stupid. It is clear that what happened affected you. You can talk to me, Aveline." she said reassuring. I sat down on the ground with my arms over my knees. _- Maybe I could tell Leliana. -_

"All right, but please do not tell the others what happened." she came sitting next to me and I saw her nodding.

"We saved Connor and everybody was in the main hall already when I came down. I noticed the Arl's study, and I was curious so I moved in. When I wanted to check on their bookcase I heard to door close behind me. Bann Teagan was in the room and he thought I was there to be alone with him or something. He started moving against me and starting kissing me in my neck. Eventually he pushed me against the wall and held me there. When he tried to get into my pants... I slapped him in his face and ran."

"Oh sweet Aveline! I am so sorry to hear that!" Leliana said while putting an arm around me.

"I told him several times to stop, but he just kept on going. And somehow I couldn't leave either. I was frozen in place until... he did the last thing I mentioned."

"Why would he do such a thing?" she wondered to herself. I shook my shoulders.

"All I remember from my visits to Redcliffe is that I just smiled to him. Maybe I shot him too many looks, because I do remember that even back then I found him a good looking man even though he was a bit too old for my taste. Maybe he took that as a sign that I liked him?" Leliana's arm tightened around me. "I don't even like him that way, I do not recall I ever did. The only one I like now is... well... Alistair." I blushed. "This is silly. We need their help against the Blight though I feel like I cannot set foot in there ever again!" I sighed. "Let's go back shall we? The others must wonder where we are." I stood up, as did Leliana.

"Everything is going to be just fine. Get some rest, Aveline. I promise I won't tell anyone this." We both walked towards the camp. When we were nearly there, I grabbed Leliana's arm.

"Thank you, Leli." I said with a warm smile. I gave her a hug and moved to my tent. I absolutely did not feel like seeing anyone. They could come and wake me when it was my turn to keep watch.

~o~

Alistair looked towards the river and noticed Leliana and Aveline coming up to camp. They stopped and Aveline hugged her before moving to her tent. Alistair quickly walked to Leliana.

"What is wrong? What happened?"

"Oh Alistair. I promised not to tell. I can tell you however, that she will need some time. When she is ready, she will tell you. I am sure!" she said.

"What? Why can you not tell me what happened in Redcliffe. We were all in there! We saw her running out with tears on her face. We ran straight after her ..."

"Alistair, your concern is touching, but please do not ask me to break a promise." With this Leliana left to her own tent. All he could do was wait. Wait until she was ready to tell what happened. He was really worried about her, however. She had won a place in his heart, and it was painful to see her like this. He thought it was strange for him to feel that way. Especially as they hadn't known each other for very long. She had accepted his rose, and he knew she felt that way too. She wouldn't accept it if that wasn't the case. He wanted to comfort her. Just sit with her, put his arms around her. Keep her safe... _- I want to keep her safe._ -


	9. As cold as Ice

I barely slept this night and felt like dirt. I had already washed myself, but that didn't seem to do much good. I collected my things so we could leave fast.

"Guys come on! I'm not going to wait for you to get up. I am leaving in 15 minutes!" I yelled throughout camp. I didn't feel like waiting on anyone today, nor hearing anyone for that matter. Feonar was already up and he was about the only one I could tolerate around me. I scratched him on the head and continued packing. After I had everything I tossed it aside and sat on a rock, waiting until everybody was ready. The look on my face must have been horrible as nobody dared to come close. Feonar came sitting with me and put his head on my leg. Finally everyone seemed ready, so I picked up my things and started walking. I was feeling annoyed and partly due to that I was moving fast. Feonar was doing his best to keep up with me, and never moved away from my side. My companions were far behind me when I arrived at an open area overlooking Ostagar. I sat down on my knees and I just kept staring. It looked peaceful. It was filled with snow, but it had a silence over it. Underneath all that snow, were so many memories! In the distance I could hear my companions so I stood up. It was time to face the fallen Ostagar. I let out a sigh before I turned around.

"Come on boy, it is time." I said to Feonar while stroking his head. Slowly I walked to the entrace of the camp of Ostagar and stood still. I felt something tugging within me and knew that Darkspawn were still here. Finally the others caught up with me and we walked in. It didn't take long for the first attack to begin and I started killing. It went automatically though I felt rage slowly building up inside of me. Alistair seemed to have found a piece of Cailan's armor at the leader of that group and took it with him. I barely even noticed the way we were heading, but I now found myself at the exact same place where I had the Joining. My eyes fell on something shiny on the floor. I walked over and sat down next to it. It was the Joining Chalice! I touched the chalice and stroke over the metal before picking it up. Alistair was standing next to me, looking at it as well. Without a word I gave him the chalice. Out of the two of us, he was the 'Senior Warden' and the chalice must have been of more value to him. He took the chalice from me and looked me in the eye before giving me a small smile. I nodded in response and left to find the key we were searching for.

We didn't have to walk far for that, as I saw a statue that fitted the description we received before. I looked at the ground and noticed a part was disturbed. _- The key must be burried in there. -_ I walked over, but again felt the tugging inside of me. Darkspawn popped out of the shadows and attacked us. I focussed on the caster of the group. With my two daggers I sliced his left hand off. Before he could do anything I sliced his right hand off as well. Then I pushed my dagger in his stomach and with my other dagger I sliced open its throat. I didn't wait for it to die. I pushed its body on the ground and cut open his stommach completely. I sat next to the Darkspawn. The rest was already dead and I could hear footsteps coming my way. I quickly cleaned my face and stood up to fish out the burried key. Once retrieved, we moved towards the chest. I could see it standing from where we were, though several things were blocking the way. After another group of Darkspawn we arrived at the chest and I quickly opened it. It contained letters. They seemed important. I gave Alistair some, and he told out loud that Empress Celene was ready to hand out an army to help Ferelden. The one I was reading was slightly different. Arl Eamon had written it to King Cailan. He notified that the Queen was getting too old and still did not give him an heir. Therefore, he suggested to put aside the Queen in order to get one who could give King Cailan the heir he needed. I shook my head and folded up the letter.

I looked around. If this was the royal chest, the tents must have been close. I felt adrenaline pumping through my body again. I had left my belongings in that tent, maybe I could retrieve some! I started running back, in search of the place where my tent had been.

"Aveline? We need to go the other way. Where are you going?" I heard Alistair say. Feonar started running towards me and it wasn't for long until I found the place I searched. I sat down on the snow and touched it. There were remains of the tent under the snow which triggered me to start digging. I didn't even notice Wynne until she sat down next to me and put a hand on my back.

"It's gone." I softly said to her.

"What is gone, Aveline?" Wynne replied. Before I could answer my head started to hurt like crazy. Everything turned white and I felt dizzy. All I heard was a single high tone which continued to play in my head. It was as if I lost my hearing. I put my hands over my head, trying to ease the pain. Suddenly it was gone, and I started coughing. The rest of the party was now with me.

"Are you all right?" Leliana said.

"Yes, but... what was I doing here?" I said while I looked up.

"We don't know dear. You rushed over and started digging? I do know this is the tent you were in when you got hurt the night you ran from your Castle?" Wynne replied back. My focus went back to the snow where I had digged my way through. Even though I knew it was a useless gesture, I picked up some snow and tossed it back hard in my anger. I moved on towards the bridge. We still had to find more pieces of Cailan's armor, as Alistair now had found just two. I gasped and picked up my case as soon as I saw what was up at the middle of the bridge. Cailan his body was pierced with arrows and hung up, like a throphy. Unexpected tears started to form in my eyes, and I did my best to keep them away. I wasn't the only one who was having a hard time with seeing this though we didn't have a lot of time. We were again attacked by a group of Darkspawn. They seemed weak, as we killed them quite quickly.

"Let's kill the rest before we pay our respects to King Cailan, shall we?" I suggested while motioning towards the Tower me and Alistair were sent to.

"Forgive us, my king. When we have driven the darkspawn from their holes and bought ourselves some time, we shall return to see you to the Maker." Alistair softly said. As we moved further we came to a part where I could see weapons targetted at our group. I quickly moved to the shadows and sneaked up to the Sergeant of the group. I backstabbed him, and he turned around when I got my dagger out. _- So we want to struggle eh? -_ He took his sword out and swung it to me sideways. I stepped back and it just missed me. I quickly moved forward and pushed my body against him, causing him to stumble back. Then I duck down and moved my feet against his leg, this time causing him to fall down. I got up and with my two daggers stabbed him in his chest. I kept on going, and going until Alistair put his hand on my back.

"Aveline." he whispered "What is wrong?" I didn't move from my position and sat with my hands on the Darkspawn. I cleaned up my eyes before I stood up.

"He's got some of Cailan's armor." I whispered back to Alistair and I moved towards the Tower which should be the last part to clear. The Darkspawn in the Tower were very weak compared to what we fought outside the Tower and we cleared it quite fast. Before we could go up further, we noticed a hole in the ground. _- This must have been where the Darkspawn came through. -_ We moved in and killed the remaining Darkspawn along with the spiders. When we got outside we were at the part where the Darkspawn came from. With each step I moved, I had flashbacks from that night at Ostagar. I could see a flash of arrows coming my way. _- This must have been what the Darkspawn saw._ - At the end of the road I saw another Darkspawn. It was a caster and was now working on a spell. The next thing that caught my eye was a huge ogre with two daggers in its chest. _- Are those Duncan's? -_

"Alistair, Leliana, Morrigan, take the ogre. I'll go take the caster at the end with Sten and Feonar. Wynne stay in between to keep us healed." With that said I ran towards the caster and I started hitting it with all I had. _- If you Darkspawn stayed away, I could rebuild Highever! If you stayed away, we didn't need to go look for an army! If you stayed away, I wouldn't have to deal with Bann Teagan's touchy hands! If you stayed away, everything would've been better! -_ I repeated this in my head for every single hit I gave him until he died. I felt my anger flowing away and I felt guilty for staying so silent this whole trip. From the moment I woke, I was as cold as ice to my companions here and I did not intend to. I turned around to find the ogre dead as well and I removed the daggers from its body. I looked at my companions and noticed they stared at me.

"I'm sorry for being so cold today guys. I... I had my reasons, but I realize it's not fair to take this out on you all. You have been great to me, all of you, and you deserve nothing less from me as well." I looked down to the ogre and kept my eyes on it.

"Aveline, it is alright. Really! Especially if you are now back to your nice and social self again." Leliana giggled.

"I promise!" I said with a smile. The rest stayed quite silent, but I could see that they were more relaxed around me again. Alistair had now walked over to regain the last piece of Cailan's armor.

"There it is, the last of them." Alistair said.

"It has been a long day. By the lines around your eyes I dare say you look as old as I." Wynne said in reply.

"And if I may say so, milady, you appear to be getting younger by the day."

"Be careful who you flirt with, young man." Wynne chuckled "When you wake up beside me tomorrow morning I'll be back to reminding you of your grandmother."

"Beside you?" Alistair gasped.

"You heard what I said. It would not be the first time I woke to a younger man in my bed."

"Are all women this evil and conniving when they grow old?"

"Just me, my dear. Just me" Wynne chuckled and I couldn't help but overhear and laugh at this myself. We moved out of this area toward the body of King Cailan. He didn't deserve this at all.

"Alistair, are you alright?" Wynne said.

"Ugh! They hanged him there to rot!" Alistair said with a large frown on his face.

"He deserves a pyre. That is the last we can do" I said to them before getting Cailan down. We got him the pyre he deserved and all of us payed our respect. One more than the other. We decided not to stay around for too long and so we left to camp. Once there I was working on stew. I wasn't a great cook, but I could make a decent meal. Alistair sat next to me.

"Ah good timing dear Alistair." I said to him with a smile on my face "I must tell you something." Alistair just nodded.

"I'm not sure how you'll take this, but promise me not to take action upon what I'm going to tell you alright?"

"Ehm. Yes. Okay. I promise." Alistair said.

"You remember when we were in Redcliffe to save Connor right? Well right after we saved him and found out that Arl Eamon didn't wake up, I went to the Arl's study. I searched his desk and when I was done I walked over to their bookcase when I heard the door close. It turned out Bann Teagan was in the room and he got the wrong idea. I mean... He walked towards me and started to kiss me, he had me pinned against the wall when he wanted to do other things as well..." I said. My eyes were focussing on the stew and not Alistair. "I slapped him in the face when he wanted to... well go into... you know. That's when I sceamed out as well and I ran away."

"Oh, Aveline! I'm sorry to hear that! I had never saw that in Bann Teagan when I lived there. I wish I was there to avoid what he had done." he said. He now had my face in his hands.

"You can stay with me next time. Please do?

"Of course I will." he said "Was this the reason why you have been to cranky all day?" I nodded. "I'm sorry about that."

"No need to apologize silly! I completely understand. I'll stick with you when we need to go back to Redcliffe."

"Thank you." I smiled to him. "Also, I have found something that is yours I believe." I took out the amulet and gave it to Alistair.

"I... Oh... that's my mothers amulet? Where did you find it?"

"In the Arl's study, in Redclffe." I said.

"I thought I'd lost this due to my own stupidity" he said "I can't believe the Arl made it and kept it!"

"Perhaps you mean more to him than you think." I replied while putting my hand on his arm.

"Thank you. You remembered what I said? Normally nobody listens when I talk about something!" he said.

"Of course I remembered, Alistair. You're special to me." He took my hand in his and with his other hand gently touched my face. His fingers traced my cheek, down to my chin, and he pulled me close. I felt butterflies flying around, not willing to stop. I wanted this. His breath was now touching my lips.

"Pashaara! It is time for my watch. I will wake you when it is your turn." Sten intervened while he sat down next to me. _- There goes the perfectly romantic moment, Sten! -_

"Yes... Thank you, Sten." I said, holding back my chuckle. We both stood up and moved to our tents.

~o~

The next morning was a whole lot better than the day before. We decided to go to Denerim first, in search of Brother Genetivi. He should know where the urn could be. Our party was ready to go when Alistair came over.

"Look, we're going to Denerim right? Is there any chance we can go and visit someone?"

"A friend of yours?" I said in reply with a wink.

"Well not really a friend, and no, not such a friend either. It's just that... I told you about my mother and who she was right? Well... it turns out that she had another child. I have a sister, Goldanna, and after some research I found out she lives in Denerim."

"That's wonderful news Alistair! Of course we'll go visit her!" I said. Alistair seemed relieved.

"Thank you! Really! Now let's go shall we?" he said while leading the way. I was glad for Alistair though I hoped she was everything Alistair expected her to be. Despite the occasional Darkspawn attacks, our journey towards Denerim went flawless. This was the first time we would be there since Loghain announced the Wardens were traitors. Due to this, I decided it would be best if our group would be limited. Therefore, I took Alistair, Wynne and Sten with me. The others would stay behind just outside the city and set up camp there. It had been so long since I'd been to Denerim. Memories flashed back into my mind from days I was here with my family. We walked to the Market District. _- Oh, Leliana would enjoy herself very much here! -_ We were walking around, in search of Brother Genetivi's house, when Alistair stopped me.

"This... is her house! I'm almost sure of it. Yes this is the right address! She could be inside! Could we... go and see?" Alistair suddenly was very nervous.

"Yes, let's do that."

"Will she even know who I am? Does she even know I exist? My sister. That sounds very strange. Sister. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiister. Hmm, now I'm babbling. Maybe we should go. Let's go. Let's just... go!" he said while walking into Goldanna's house. I came along with Alistair, while the others waited outside.

"Hello?" Alistair said.

"Eh? You got linen to wash? I charge three bits a bundle, you won't find better. And don't trust what that Natalia woman tells you either, she's foreign and she'll rob you blind." Goldanna said while coming up towards Alistair and me.

"Eh... I'm not here to have any wash done. My name's Alistair. I'm... well, this might sound sort of strange, but are you Goldanna? If so, I suppose I'm your brother!"

"My what? I'm Goldanna, yes... How do you know my name? What kind of tomfoolery are you folk up to?" she said with a frown.

"He's telling the truth. Listen to him." I replied to Goldanna.

"Look, our mother... She worked as a servant in Redcliffe Castle a long time ago, before she died. Do you know about that? She-"

"You!" Goldanna seemed to realize who Alistair was now. "They told me you were dead!" she continued. "They told me the babe was dead along with mother, but I knew they was lying!" She obviously was not happy at all to see Alistair. After talking a bit longer it seemed that Goldanna only wanted money, and not at all a long lost brother. We decided to leave and not give Goldanna any money. Once outside, Alistair stopped and turned to me again.

"This is the family I've been wondering about all my life? That shrew is my sister? I can't believe it." he said. "I... I guess I was expecting her to accept me without question. Isn't that what family is supposed to do? I... I feel like a complete idiot." he looked to the ground. I got closer to Alistair and held his head up with both my hands.

"Everyone is out for themselves. You should learn that."

"Yes I suppose I should. Let's go. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Alistair walked away from me towards the houses closer to the Alienage. Even though I felt bad for Alistair, we still had to find Brother Genetivi's house to cure Arl Eamon. With a sigh I started moving as well.


	10. From pillar to post

**This chapter took me a bit longer to write and publish. Partly due to the fact that I'm making headers for each chapter which I use for the forum posts. Thank you for waiting and reading my story. Hopefully you'll enjoy the next chapter. Don't hesitate to leave reviews ;-) My thanks also go out to Missawesome1213, my beta!  
**

With a small knock on the door of Brother Genitivi's house, we walked in. It was quite a large house, and after the entrance room was a dining room. There we saw a man standing, who didn't look too pleased. We walked towards him and I could see he was getting more nervous. _- Something is not right. -_

"Hello," I started "we're looking for Brother Genitivi." The man responded and it seemed that he didn't want us to know where Brother Genetivi went. He introduced himself as Weylon, Brother Genitivi's assistant. I kept insisting that we wanted to know where he went and finally he revealed that Brother Genitivi went to Lake Calenhad. After that he didn't receive anymore letters from so he feared something might have happened. I thanked the man and turned around while looking at the house. Everything seemed normal enough, so we started walking out the door towards the Market District again. We just received our next destination which was Lake Calenhad. Once outside, Leliana hooked in my arm and hold me back long enough so the others, who kept walking out of Denerim, wouldn't hear us.

"So... Have you kissed him yet?" She asked. I chuckled, knowing she was talking about Alistair.

"No, not yet Leliana." I felt a blush creeping up. "I'm sure we'll get our chance. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something as well!" I said, hastily avoid the subject.

"Do tell!" she replied. While walking towards the others, I started asking about why Leliana came to Ferelden and why Lothering of all places. We talked about shoes afterwards, much to my delight. Apparently they had wonderful shoes in Orlais! The rest of our party obviously didn't care about the subject and avoided talking along with us. Leliana and I talked for quite a while.

~o~

Lake Calenhad wasn't very big. We had been here before of course, for another purpose, but I kept thinking this. This time we went towards the Inn. Maybe they could tell us if Brother Genitivi was here. We walked into the Inn and we noticed it was very quiet. I walked over to the bartender.

"Good day. Welcome to the Spoiled Princess. What can I do for you?" he said.

"We're looking for Brother Genitivi, is he here?"

"Brother Gen... who? I don't know him!" he said. He seemed nervous and kept looking around.

"Is something wrong? We can help you." I softly said.

"Ssssh, keep your voice down. There are men looking out for people who are looking this Brother Genitivi. It's better not to intervene." he said desperately. I decided to take another look outside to find these men he was talking about. The moment we walked out the door Feonar started to growl. We were surrounded by a large group of men, trying to stop our search to Brother Genitivi. They barely said a word and charged with their swords raised up in the air. Feonar ran off to the archers with Sten and Leliana took our her bow and took some distance. Alistair and I stood close and took on the ones at the front while Morrigan stood near Leliana. Wynne could reach everyone from the doorway, where she was standing and decided to throw in the occasional wintersgrasp when she had the time. By now I had the hang of things again and it didnt' feel strange to slice someone's throat. When the group was dead, I moved to the Inn again to let the bartender know he was safe while the others looked if our attackers had some things on them we could use. The bartender looked surprised.

"They're gone? Thank The Maker!"

"We've killed them all. It was obvious this was an ambush. We will move back to Denerim to try and find Brother Genitivi. Stay safe." I told him and I walked out. The rest was ready to go.

"Time to teach that bastard in Denerim a lesson." I said to everyone while walking away.

~o~

It wasn't long until we encountered a woman who was targeted by bandits. Her wagons were standing further away and she asked us to come with her. In the distance we could see the wagons indeed and I decided to take a look. When we arrived there, we saw that she moved to an elven man. He was grinning and I felt uneasiness settle in the pit of my stomach. He motioned with his arm and suddenly we were closed in. _- Are they all bandits? -_ I frowned and before I could try anything else, I noticed a log falling. I jumped aside to avoid it, as did the rest.

"The Grey Warden dies here!" the elven man yelled. _- I think not! -_ I quickly stood up and grabbed my daggers. The man was coming towards me fast. I barely noticed what the others were doing as the elven man seemed to want to take me on by himself. He raised his own daggers and I did the same in defense causing our bodies to move close to each other. I saw him grinning and he continued the fight. He made an horizontal motion with his dagger, trying to slice my throat. I moved backwards to avoid it and with my own dagger hit his out of his hand. He looked surprised for a second and put his other dagger in that hand. For a second we moved around each other. I pushed forward again. He did well with the only dagger he had left as I couldn't break his defense this way. Finally I hit my dagger against his harder than I did before and turned around him and used the hilt of my dagger to knock him out. He fell on the floor and I quickly helped out the others with killing the rest. When everything was safe again, I moved over to the elven man. I saw Sten standing over him with his sword ready to kill him.

"Katara, bas!*"

"Wait Sten! I want to interrogate him." With some words of protest Sten lowered his sword and moved back from the elf. After a few minutes the elf started to stirr a bit.

"Mmm…Oh…I rather thought I would wake up dead, or not wake up at all as the case may be. But I see you haven't killed me yet."

"That could easily be rectified." I told him.

"Of that I have no doubt. You are most skilled. If you haven't killed me however, you must have kept me alive for some purpose, yes? My name is Zevran - Zev to my friends. I am a member of the Antivan Crows, brought here for the sole purpose of slaying any surviving Grey Wardens. Which I have failed at, sadly."

"Right, that's not so horrible in my eyes. Who hired you to kill us?" I continued.

"A rather taciturn fellow in the capital; Loghain, I think his name was? Yes, that's it."

"Does that mean you're loyal to Loghain?"

"I have no idea what his issues are with you. the usual I imagine, you threaten his power, yes? Beyond that no, I am not loyal to him. I was contracted to perform a service. Since I failed to kill you, my life is forfeit. That's how it works. The Crows will kill me. That is the way it is. The thing is, I like living. And you obviously are the sort to give the Crows pause. So, let me serve you instead." I was a bit startled by this. He tried to kill me, and now he wanted to serve me? I just stared into his eyes, my mind spinning by thoughts whether this was a good idea or not.

"You must think I'm royally stupid."

"I think you're royally tough to kill. And utterly gorgeous. Not that I think you'll respond to simple flattery. But there are worse things in life than serving the whims of a deadly sex goddess." He said. I rolled my eyes at his comment, but I couldn't help grinning.

"Can I expect the same amount of loyalty from you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"I happen to be a very loyal person! Up until the point where someone expects me to die..." he said.

"Hm... Alright. You're in! Welcome Zevran." I said while helping him up. This obviously was not expected by my companions. I could hear Alistair and Morrigan gasp.

"A very good idea." Morrigan said with a sarcastic tone. "I'm sure to take a closer watch on my food and water from now on."

"We're taking the assasin with us now?" Alistair gasped. He grabbed my arm while he said this.

"Alistair, we can use every bit of help we can get now." I said, trying to persuade Alistair.

"Alright, I see your point. Though if there was a sign of desperation, I think it just knocked on the door and said hello."

"Let's move shall we? We've got someone else to interrogate as well. Oh Zevran? I think it might be better if you just stay out of the city, in camp, while we're in Denerim. Morrigan, Sten and Feonar will stay with you when we arrive." The elf just nodded and followed us.

~o~

When we arrived in Denerim we moved straight towards the house of Brother Genitivi. When we were nearly there we were held back by a guard. He had roughly grabbed my arm and pushed me back. I looked into his eyes and I could only see his anger. He was tall and had blond hair.

"You! I recognize you from... Ostagar! You're a Grey Warden. You Grey Wardens killed the King!" he yelled. _- Dear Maker, I'm so not up for this right now. -_ With force I took my arm back and stood in front of him and crossed my arms.

"I demand vengeance!"

"Are you certain you want to fight a Grey Warden?" I intimidated to the man while closing up on him, holding one hand on a dagger.

"You certainly look more skilled than you did back in Ostagar..." he backed off. "I will not fight with you, though you should know that Loghain will have you hanged for what you've done at Ostagar!" I waved his remark off with me hand and moved to Brother Genetivi's house. I didn't knock and just walked in without notice. He man looked up from where he was standing and was surprised to see us. He even backed up a bit.

"You lied to us! Lake Calenhad was an ambush!" I scowled at him. I took the man's shirt and pushed him against the wall. "Tell us where Brother Genetivi is!"

"You will get nothing more out of me. Brother Genitivi will not be among us anymore." he said with an evil grin while trying to cast a spell. I noticed what he was doing and took my dagger and placed it along his throat.

"If you wish to stay alive, tell me where he went."

"Threaten all you want. I shall tell you nothing!" he said while he pushed me back. He made a move on attacking me by casting a paralize spell. Unfortunately for that poor man, he did not have much experience and he lay dead on the floor quickly after he charged. I decided to check the house and in his bedroom I found a body. _- Wait, this is the real Weylon! -_ Next to his body I noticed a chest. I opened it and found a research notebook. It said that Brother Genitivi went to Haven, as the urn must be around that area. I marked the area on my map and moved out of the house.

"They say you can get anything here. I once got pick-pocketed." Alistair suddenly said. I burst out in laughter only causing strange looks from the others and Alistair himself.

"What did they get?" I asked after my laughing stopped.

"My miniature golem doll Arl Eamon had given me." Alistair pouted.

"Well, if you're good you'll get a new one!" I said with a grin.

~o~

We stopped at camp as it was getting late. Too late to move to Haven anyway. I decided to get some wood for a fire and dragged Alistair with me. Feonar walked along with us as well and he played around, trying to get as many brenches in his mouth as possible. While he played around, me and Alistair were picking up those dry enough for the fire. Suddenly he picked up the same as I did. We both stood up straight without letting go.

"I refuse to let go of this precious piece of wood, dear Alistair." I joked.

"That so?" he said while he used the piece of wood to pull me close. I was now touching his body with mine and he put his hands around my waist while he let his wood go as I did with mine.

"Then I guess I must surrender it." he softly said. I looked into his eyes, and he slowly moved in closer towards me.

"Yes.. I suppose you must..." I whispered back. I could feel those butterflies flying everywhere again. My heart was beating like crazy. Alistair's fingers tangled in my hair and I slowly moved towards Alistair to meet his lips.

"You must lay your head into her bossom Alistair!" Zevran yelled. Alistair looked up, surprised that anyone was out here.

"I... what?" he said. I put my head on Alistair's chest.

"Not again..." I said to myself.

"Not you dear Aveline, but him! It looks so soft and nice! If he is not willing, I certainly am!" Zevran said.

"Not a chance, Zevran." I picked up my wood again. It seemed like Alistair and I would never get a moment together.

"While you're here, pick up some wood as well will you?" Zevran smirked and nodded while starting to gather wood. Alistair picked up his bundle and we moved back to camp.

"I'm sure Morrigan or Wynne would be willing to! Their bossoms are very nice as well!" I could hear Zevran saying._ - Good luck with that, Zevran! -_ Once the fire was started I made stew with Leliana. She gave me some looks again which I now recognized. _- She really is a curious person. -_

"Yes Leliana? You're wondering something?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"I do! How nice of you to notice! You and Alistair were away together weren't you?"

"Yes we were, and to relieve you of your curiosity, nothing happened. Zevran intervened. It seems like Alistair and I will never get the chance." Leliana laughed and smiled.

"Patience is a virtue, Aveline." she said while giving me a wink. _- Maybe so, but still... -_ The evening went by quite fast and morning arrived far too soon. Today we were heading to Haven. I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Brother Genitivi. This made me get up fast and get everything ready. When I checked camp I noticed someone else standing near the wagons. I walked over and introduced myself. The man was called Levi and he was there because Duncan made a promise. He wanted us to go to Soldiers Peak and redeem Sophia's good name. She was a Grey Warden and Levi's grandmother. He marked our map and I promised to go there after we saved Arl Eamon. Who knew how much time he had left. We agreed that Levi could stay at our camp until we were done. After that we were on the roads fast.

~o~

Haven seemed dark and grim. Nobody was outside. It was like it was a ghost village. There was one guard who held us back when he noticed us.

"Return where you came from. Haven has nothing you look for." he said. His look was utterly serious and not to be taken lightly.

"May we just trade supplies then?" I asked.

"That you may. After that you must leave immediately!" he said annoyed. He wasn't pleased about our wish to trade supplies, but after we made our way towards the nearby houses he ignored us. We moved into the first house we saw, which was someone's home. We looked around and noticed a bloody altar straight away. We moved over and I just stared at all the blood. _- Makers blood, what happened here! -_

"This town certainly isn't what it looks like." Wynne said.

"Ehm... Maybe this is where they prepare their meat!" Alistair said, hoping that was really the case.

"Meat doesn't bleed that much." I replied.

"I know. I know. I'm just trying to get a more comfortable explanation for all of this."

"We should go and find Brother Genitivi. The longer I'm here, the less I'm liking it." I said. Outside a group of villagers were awaiting us. They knew we found their altar and obviously had something to hide. They attacked us the minute we were outside. The ones nearby weren't hard to kill, but the archer was tricky. I saw Feonar getting shot by him and immediately rushed over with my daggers raised. Without thinking I sliced them through his neck twice. He barely had time to get his bow away and take his own weapons for close combat. I ran back to Feonar and sat with him. I pulled out the arrow and kept pressure on the wound. Wynne walked over and casted a rejuvation spell on Feonar.

"There. Give it a minute and then you should be fine." she said while putting an extra poultice on, just in case.

"Thank you." I whispered to Wynne. She nodded and I let Feonar stand up. He seemed alright and his happy bark only confirmed this. We moved further into the village, trying to figure out what was happening here. When we got to the top we noticed a building and noises coming out of there. When we moved in, it seemed like the whole village was in there.

"Just once I'd like to walk into one of these places and discover a lively dance, or a drinking festival. Or an orgy. But alas, no." Zevran said. I supressed a grin while I was walking towards the man who was preeching. I noticed his amulet around his neck the second I was in front of him. He stopped talking and gave me an angry glare.

"Ah, I already heard there were visitors in Haven. I expect you have enjoyed yourself?" he said.

"Not really! What is happening here? There is blood everywhere. Where is Brother Genitivi?" I demanded answers!

"That is none of your business. Everyone! This is what happens when you let outsiders in! Kill them!"

"I suppose violence is a solution... sometimes!" Leliana softly said. Everyone was getting their weapons out and started to fight off the villagers. I could hear Zevran's comments next to me.

"I hope I don't get blood all over me again." Despite being in a fight, I rather enjoyed the comments he could make. I tried to ignore what everyone was saying and moved to the man with the amulet. He was a mage and the second I was in front of him he had ended his cast. I was the target of a Cone of Cold. I was frozen in place and I was freezing cold! I tried to speak up, but I couldn't. Alistair quickly noticed this and shield bashed him. Luckily I wasn't frozen for very long and when I got out I immediately sat over the man and stabbed my dagger in his chest. I rolled over and shivered.

"Ahh... 's... ssso... c...cold!" Morrigan came over and made a small fire to warm me up which I was very grateful for! While she did that, Alistair removed the amulet around the man's neck. _- That must be good for something. It looks like that anyway. - _After I warmed up a bit, we searched the rooms and finally found a hidden room. I could see it by the way the walls were made. There was an arch at the right side of the main room and even though it was completely made of stone there had to be a way to open it. I put my hands on it and pushed as hard as I could. The door moved back and slid aside. _- It worked! -_ We could only hope Brother Genitivi was still alive and in this room.

* * *

* "_Katara, bas!" = "Die, thing!"_


	11. Ashes

**Thank you very much for all your patience :) I had a busy week at work with organizing several things, and barely had time to write. Along with that we're getting a new cat as well which requires some arrangements, and visiting and such. I'm back again though, and very eager to continue my story :) Enjoy!**

We walked into the secret chamber and saw Brother Genetivi on the floor. For a second I was afraid they had killed him. When I got close he stirred and woke up. I felt a wave of relief. He was awake, but hurt. I tried to bandage his leg as good as possible. When we told him our plans, he said he could open the door for us. The amulet which Alistair had picked up was needed for this, so we gave it to him. With me as support, he managed to guide us to the door. He was glad when we finally reached the top.

"There. Now let's see how this works. Ah... yes!" Brother Genitivi managed to make the amulet to some sort of a key. It looked strange and I wondered out loud who would have made it. He put the key into the door and it opened. While the door slowly showed us the huge building, I was standing next to Brother Genitivi. Amazed about what I saw. The hall was tall and fully covered in ice and snow. I could still see the windows and the light shining through them. When the door had fully opened we all moved in the hall. Brother Genitivi seemed even more amazed than I was, immediately wanting to do his research. He suggested that he would stay here to do just that. I could only agree to that and turned around to face the others.

"I think it's best if we go in with a small party. We don't know what's up ahead, but we should be fine with just four persons. Alistair? Wynne? Zevran? If you'd like to come along with me, I'd like to ask the others to keep Brother Genitivi safe. Sorry guys, but I think this is for the best." I said with an apologetic look on my face.

"No problem, Aveline." Leliana said while grabbing my arm for a second. Sten and Morrigan stayed silent, though Feonar walked over to me. He gave a sad whine. I sat on my knees to meet his height.

"Sorry boy, but you'll have to protect our friends. I trust you do that as well as you protect me." I said while scratching behind his ears. He barked in agreement and ran towards Leliana. In times he had to stay with the others it was Leliana who he liked the most. She gave him so much of her attention and really seemed to enjoy the company of the dog. This made me trust leaving Feonar with them even more. I stood up and made way to the first hall. It would be best to explore every single bit of this hall just in case we would miss something. We walked off towards the first part.

"Ahhhh, an untouched treasure! What wonders await us here?" Zevran said.

There was a hall at our left side, even before the firepit in front of us. It was quiet. We weren't far away from the others, but that was the first thing I noticed. The silence. There was nothing special in this hall we we moved out again. At the right side of the firepit I could see another hall. I moved further and noticed a door at the right side. I tried to open it, but it was locked. I tried picking the lock, but that failed as well. We moved further, with in mind the closed door. Maybe we would find a key further ahead.

We walked back towards the firepit to move up the stairs and noticed it was filled with people.

"What are all these people doing here? Weren't these ruins supposed to be... well, abandoned?" I wondered out loud.

"Maybe Andraste has hired many many guards, dear Warden. Or they decided to guard her, because she has a marvelous bossom!" Zevran replied. We didn't get a chance to continue our talk as they came running towards us. Once they were dead, I poisoned my weapons to make the fights end faster. I had seen Zevran doing it all the time and while at first I found it annoying to do it over and over again, now I kept thinking it might be a good idea. Anything which can be used in our advantage should be used after all. We moved towards the two side halls and cleared them. At the end of one hall we found a key and I immediately thought about the locked door we noticed earlier. I smiled and ran downstairs again.

"Warden? Where are you going! The door is right here you see?" Zevran yelled after me.

"True, but it's locked!" I kept running towards the door and noticed the others were following me as well. I stood in front of the door and stared at it for a second. Then I put the key into the lock and I heard something fall into place.

"Yes!..." I whispered to myself. The door opened and we noticed a couple of chests. Zevran opened the locked ones and took what was in them while I opened the one I had a key for. It contained another key for, I assumed, the larger door upstairs. I stood up again and turned around.

"Ah dear Warden, how bad that you had to stand up. We had a magnificent view from here!" Zevran said.

"I... didn't look, I promise!" Alistair quickly said. I chuckled as I noticed how quick he blushed.

"Shame on you Zev. Behave, will you?" I said with a wink. We continued our way and didn't find any other small puzzles. After a long time, filled with killing people who were standing in our way, we arrived in a chamber where a guardian was guarding the door.

"Magic fills this room." Wynne said. I looked at her, a bit concerned about what was to come. They all walked towards the guardian, but I was still standing at the entrance of the room. Too many thoughts creeped into my mind which kept me where I was. I pinched the bridge of my nose and walked towards the guardian as well. When I arrived he looked at me and immediately started questioning everyone. Guilt creeped up again the moment he asked if he thought I had failed my parents. Of course I thought I had. A part of me wanted to stay and defend them, even though I realized it would probably meant I would die as well. Another part of me wanted to drag mother with Duncan and me. She could escape and be safe with us. A third part however, did realize that things happened as they were supposed to. It pained me to think about it, but that part felt more true than anything else. I was meant to stay alive for a reason. The others thought I was too hard on myself. Alistair was questioned about Duncan. He felt like he should have died instead of him. Wynne was asked if she ever doubted that what she was praising and Zevran was questioned about... well he cut it off before we could hear what it was actually about really. My first thought was that something happened between him and someone he cared for. When we all gave our answers he opened the doors. After the first test the doors opened so we could continue. When I turned around to head in that direction it felt like my heart stopped. My eyes were trained on what was standing there. I slowly moved towards him and tears formed in my eyes. My mouth opened and at first nothing came out.

"F... father?" I held my hand forward to try and touch him. When my hand reached right through him my tears started to fall. I closed my eyes and shook my head.

"Ah my girl, no longer must you grief." he started. I fell on my knees at his words.

"How can you just say that." I whispered back.

"Take the pain and acknowledge it. It is time to let go." The ghost kneeled down as well and looked me in the eye.

"But I miss you all so much." I told him in between my sobbing. I looked up to the ghost and noticed he was smiling at me.

"I know pup, we miss you too. Take this." he said. I could feel his hands which surprised me. He wrapped my hands around the gift and stood up. Alistair now was by my side as well and helped me up too. I brushed away my tears with the back of my hand.

"Thank you." I said. "But it will not be completely over until I have had my vengeance." The ghost still looked solid and I tried to touch him again. When I felt him I immediately pulled in close for a hug. This was something I needed. I felt him disappear from my arms and soon I was holding on to air. In the distance I could hear his final words.

"Goodbye pup, we love you." I nodded to myself and opened my hands. A last tear fell down my cheek when I saw what he left me. It was a beautiful neckless. Just like the one mother had when we were still living in Highever. Now I had something solid to remember them by.

"It's beautiful." Alistair said while he put his arm around me to confort me. I smiled and put it around my neck. Without looking to the others I motioned to continue. The next room was filled with the same sort of ghosts. Though these were not just any ghost.

"That's us!" I gasped.

"I think we need to let go of our past selves." Wynne said. I nodded and charged in. Halfway I stealthed and sneaked up to myself. I backstabbed my ghost and the fight had begun. It felt weird to attack me and my friends. Even if we could clearly see they were ghosts, they looked too much like us to be comfortable with killing them. Getting them down wasn't difficult and I wondered if we were that easy to kill as well. The real us in this case. We moved on to the next room and noticed a huge pit. Around it were some platforms. It seemed like they would activate something. I would need everyone here, that much was clear. Zevran started on the first platform and I could see the first piece of a path appearing. It took some time, but we finally had a path and everybody quickly rushed to the other side. Just in case the path was going to disappear again before we were all on the other side.

I walked to the next room, with the others behind me and we could see a line of fire blocking our way. It felt as hot as fire really was when I put my hand near it. In front of the fire was an altar. I looked at it and noticed something was written on it.

"Oh..." I cleared my throat.

"What is wrong dear Warden?" Zevran said.

"We have to put our armor off in order to cross the fire." I said while turning around to face the others. I could see Alistair reddening completely.

"Do we... really have to do that?" Alistair said. I nodded and started to get my armor off.

"Let's go." I said. I saw Wynne doing the same and Zevran did not hesitate to follow us. Of course I could see his eyes lingering. Alistair followed after a little while, still doubting this was needed. When we were all stripped of our armor, I moved to the fire. It still felt hot so I decided to run through. When I did, I barely noticed I was through as I had my eyes closed. Not long after the spirit came again.

"You have proven yourself worthy. You may now approach the Ashes of Andraste." I quickly collected my armor and put it on. The others did the same. I looked up and I could see the ashes underneath the statue of Andraste. Everything was silent and when we were standing in front of the ashes, nobody could believe they were here. It was rare for people to actually see the ashes of Andraste, but here we were. We found them. I slowly opened the lid and took a pinch of ashes. I closed it and put the ashes in my pouch. I moved down the stairs and noticed bodies lying near the door. _- What are these doing here? -_ I searched them and that what I found, I put in my bag.

"Let's go. If I remember correctly we've got an Arl to rescue." I softly said.

~o~

I could see Brother Genitivi waiting for us with the others. Leliana rushed over the moment she saw us.

"Did you find the ashes?" my nod triggered her to continue "I have to admit I'm slightly jealous! You should be honored to have seen it!" she happily said.

"How was it?" Brother Genitivi asked.

"We had to prove ourselves worthy first, but I'm honored to have been in that room, to have seen her ashes." I replied.

"We have to let everyone know that this place is here! People should be able to honor Andraste!"

"I'm not quite sure if that is wise, Brother Genitivi." I said, concern filled my voice.

"Who are you to keep them away from the ashes! I'll die trying if I have to." he said with a huge frown on his face.

"I am sure your intentions are good Brother, but can you say the same of everyone else." He ignored Wynne's comment and continued babbling.

"I have to go! I don't have much, but come to my house if you seek a reward." he said. He turned around and almost ran away. Which I found surprising, as he was injured before. The rest turned around to look at me, and I motioned for them to leave as well.

"Wow. That was a slightly different Brother Genitivi than the one we came with, when we started all of this." I said while I walked after the others. Alistair stopped me, however. I turned around to face him.

"Can we ... talk?" he said.

"You do know it's freezing cold here right? Can we talk outside?"

"No. I mean... The others will be there, and I just wanted to speak to you in private." He smiled. "Plus, I can keep you warm?" Alistair took my waist with his arms and pushed me against his body. My arms slid around his waist just as easily.

"Hmm... You really are warm!" I whispered, while giving him a warm smile back. Our bodies were pressed against each other, and Alistair moved towards me. Our lips were but an inch away, and I couldn't help but tease him a little. One hand quickly moved away from my back and grabbed my head to push me against his lips. They were so warm. I melted away and surrendered to this feeling. Our tongues started to mingle. I could feel Alistairs hand in my hair. This was finally happening. Nobody was around to interfere. It seemed as if we were tangled like this for minutes, but also like it had just started when he moved away again. I kept him close and looked him into his eyes. He grinned.

"Now, that wasn't too soon was it?"

"You're such a tease. I thought you wanted to talk? This isn't really talking is it? Not that I don't enjoy it. And I'll... need more of that to give you a proper answer to that question." I said while grinning back.

"You talk too much." he softly said. This time I took the back of Alistair's head and pushed him towards me. The kiss was more intense this time. Our tongues found a great way to play with each other. I forgot about the cold. It wasn't even cold anymore! It felt like a midsummer day and I was finally kissing the man I loved.


	12. Returning to Redcliffe

**I had enough inspiration to continue so here you go! But first, thank you for the reviews guys! I appreciate them, and am glad you're enjoying my story! Here's the next chapter, have fun reading!**

It was misty that morning and a bit chilly. We arrived in Redcliffe again and now overlooked the city. I did not feel like going back into Redcliffe castle. Even though I knew I could best Bann Teagan if I had to, I wasn't looking forward to having to stand in the same room with him. A part of me feared he would redo what he did before and I'd freeze again like I did before. I turned to Alistair, who was next to me also overlooking the village. I could see concern in his eyes when he noticed I was looking at him. He kept quiet, but gently squized my hand. I nodded and turned around only to find Leliana standing right behind me.

"Are you ready Leli?" She nodded.

"Are _you_ ready, Aveline? I mean... after... you know."

"I don't have a choice, do I? Besides, I'll keep Alistair close to me." I smiled to her a little and started walking towards the Castle. Alistair followed as did Feonar.

"Sometimes I do worry about her..." Leliana said to Wynne.

"Me too. We can only hope they find comfort in each other even though their blooming relationship may not last."

"What do you mean? If they love each other, it will last. They will make sure it last!" Leliana said surprised.

"Of course, but that is also something I worry about. How much will they risk for their love for each other?"

"You should stop talking. It is not of use and it delays us. Follow the Warden." Sten said while pushing his way through Wynne and Leliana.

"You're a real sunshine aren't you, Sten!" Morrigan replied while following him.

"Sten can't help who he is!" Leliana said after Morrigan while following them as well. "Maybe Qunari are just like that." Morrigan mumbled something back to Leliana and the two continued their little arguement. Wynne followed in silence, simply listening to the conversations. The Castle looked overwhelming in the mist. Everybody had arrived and we walked in. Feonar was happy and kept jumping around me. In the hall, I sat down in front of him.

"Do you see anything interesting, boy?" He barked and ran off. Surprisingly fast he came back with something in his mouth.

"Oh.. thank you! It's a ball of... yarn." I said. I put it in my pack and scratched him behind his ears before moving into the main hall. There was nobody there besides two guards and Bann Teagan. He rushed over to our group and I felt the need to defend myself. Restricting myself as much as I could, I looked him in his eyes.

"We should hurry to Arl Eamon, we have found the Ashes." He nodded and showed us the way to Arl Eamon's room. There was a priest of some sort standing there, ready to perform the ritual the Ashes would require to heal the Arl. I handed over the Ashes and he started his ritual. I moved back to the door to await the outcome and crossed my arms. Alistair came up next to me.

"Are you alright, dear?" he whispered. I simply nodded without looking him in his eyes. He unwrapped my arms and took my hand in his. Suddenly we saw the Arl move. The ritual seemed to work. Isolde now came in the room, hearing something was happening. When the Arl started to open his eyes, she rushed over to his side.

"Where... am I?" Arl Eamon said. Still sounding sleepy. "Where is my wife, and my son?" Isolde took his hand.

"I am here, husband. Our son lives, but many do not."

"What happened?"

"It is a long story Eamon." Bann Teagan said. "You should rest before we tell you."

"No, I wish to hear all of it. Let me get dressed, then we sit down and talk." Bann Teagan nodded to his request, or rather demand and moved out of the room. The rest did as well. We moved to the main hall again and awaited Arl Eamon there. Alistair was still near me and still keeping my hand in his. It was a welcome gesture.

"Eamon can be so stubborn." Bann Teagan said while he turned to face us. "I thank you for your effort to save him." He closed in on me. I started to squeez Alistair's hand.

"Everyone helped to get the Ashes."

"Aveline..." Alistair said.

"I understand," Bann Teagan continued "but you were the one to lead them." I shifted on my feet.

"That doesn't make my effort more important than theirs." I said with a frown.

"Aveline..." Alistair said again, now in a more urgent tone.

"True, I do thank all of you for saving Eamon. I am certain you will be rewarded for it!" he said with a smile. He was standing right in front of me and put his eyes on me again after addressing my companions. I could see his eyes lingering towards my hand holding Alistair's.

"We should talk, Aveline. In private."

"Aveline!" I felt something tugging at my arm.

"No. Whatever you have to say, you can say it here in front of my friends."

"AVELINE!" I finally responded, shocked at the tone Alistair was using. I turned to face him and loosened my grip.

"Oh I'm so sorry Alistair!" I quickly said. He was looking sad and held his hand up.

"I promise, I'll make it up to you." I whispered, gently holding on to his hand. I turned back around to Bann Teagan.

"You wished to talk, so talk." I simply said.

"I..." Bann Teagan looked at the others, doubting if he should say what he wanted to say in front of them.

"I'm sorry." His eyes moved down to the floor for a second, before going back up again. "I had absolutely no right to act like I did, last time you were here. I realize that now. Unfortunately, way too late. I hope I didn't alienate you from our family. From Redcliffe. I..." Leliana came to my side and put an arm around me.

"No, you did not have the right to just assume I liked you. My friends have been of great support, Bann Teagan so I did move on after you did what you did, but the trust is kinda lost at this moment." I had barely ended my sentence when Arl Eamon and Lady Isolde came walking in the room. Bann Teagan started to explain to Arl Eamon what had happened and Isolde just stared at the ground. I could see she was feeling guilty over what had happened, but more about what could have been the outcome. About her losing her husband. Arl Eamon was shocked to find out Connor was a mage. The conversation lasted a while and we did not interfere. When it was ended, when all was clear for Arl Eamon he turned to face us.

"You have my thanks for saving me and family. You all do. Before we continue, would you mind a reward?"

"Arl Eamon, all we ask for is to stand with us against the Blight."

"Of course, but that is not a reward, my Lady." he said with a smile. "I insist." he said.

"All right."

"Then I hereby declare you and your companions, Champions of Redcliffe! You will always be welcome in Redcliffe. Also, let me give you this shield. It's the finest shield the Redcliffe knights receive. I know you're not a warrior, but one of your companions might be."

"You are too kind, my Lord." I said while dipping into a curtosy. I handed the shield over to Alistair. He was a warrior and might want to use the shield himself. I noticed a smile spreading on his face when he took over the shield.

"Now we should discuss the matters at hand. We'll deal with Jowan later. I do not trust him alive so we'll arrange that ourselves. No need for you lot to worry about. Also, we cannot trust Loghain on the position he's put himself on. We need someone more eligable to the throne, other than Loghain's daughter."

"Are you referring to Alistair, brother?" Bann Teagan said. I wasn't sure if I liked where they were heading. I knew Alistair didn't want to become King.

"He is of Theirin blood and that is what should rule Ferelden."

"Does anyone care about what I want?" Alistair said, while stepping forward.

"Alistair, at this very moment it's not about what anyone would want. If you do not go for the throne I'd have to support Loghain. That isn't what you want is it?"

"I... but... No, my Lord."

"I do suggest you collect your army first. After that we will call for a Landsmeet. Loghain will have no choice than to welcome us. What do you say, Warden? I do not wish to start this without your concent."

"Is there no other way? I mean... Surely the nobles should know what Loghain has done!"

"I'll try to spread the rumor, though without evidence we hardly have a case." I looked at Alistair. He looked defeated. Forced into something he didn't want to do.

"I..." He looked me in my eyes. He understood the look on my face. I turned back to face Arl Eamon and noticed he was staring at me. Expecting an answer right now.

"I guess this is the only right thing to do." Arl Eamon looked pleased and continued babbling. I barely took in half he said until he closed his story.

"We'll start this when you say you have your army, Warden. Good luck, and know you're welcome to stay the night until you're ready to leave." I slightly bowed when he left the room. I turned to face Alistair who stayed still.

"Guys, do you mind to give us a moment?" When everybody had left the room I stood a bit closer to Alistair.

"I.. know you don't want to do this, but I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry." I said, afraid for his reaction.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault. I'm not sure if there's another way either to be honest. This might be the best chance we've got. The only maybe." he said while he paced around the room. I walked towards Alistair and turned him around to face me.

"So... my prince is becoming the King. Somehow that is even more thrilling than being a prince was." I slyly said while giving him a wink. He looked surprised for a second, but then grabbed my hips and pushed me against him.

"Hmm..." he said with a smile. "Just wait and see, my dear." His fingers traced my face, and gave me goosebumps. His lips closed in on me again and I didn't want to wait around. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

~o~

A figure outside the room peaked in and saw the two Wardens together. They were in love, that much was obvious. The figure shook its head and looked back in. They were gone! Quickly looking around, it noticed the room was still empty. Filled by only shadows and a possible betrayel.

~o~

I was back in my room and looked around. They were quite big for guests. Memories about her past self flew back in. Her family had been here several times when she was a child. The Arl and Bann had always been kind to them as, when they returned to Highever, they had nothing but great stories about their journeys. I changed out of myleather armor and noticed the bath was filled and eagerly waiting for meto come in. There was something more urging than the bath though. I was hungry!

I changed into a simple dress, I saw hanging in the closet and sneaked out of my room. The halls were dark and silent. When I arrived in the kitchen I started to look for something to eat. My apitite had been increased since the moment I became a Warden. I couldn't remember eating so much before the ritual. My search payed off quickly as I noticed a piece of meat, carefully packed and put away. I felt sorry for the servants, but I had to have something. I took it and sat down while eating the meat.

Suddenly the door closed and I didn't bother too much about it until... the moment I realized I had already closed the door myself when I came in. I turned around, with widened eyes, still holding the piece of meat in my hand and not able to swallow the piece in my mouth.

~o~

I was still awake and having a drink in my room when I heard some noises. They weren't loud, but everyone in the Castle should have been asleep so these noises triggered me to take a look. I quickly drank the last bit I had before I stood up. Now I heard a door close? Was someone in the Castle? I opened my bedroom door and took a look into the halls. Nobody. I decided to find the source of the sound and walked towards the kitchen.

Now I could hear noises of a chair sliding over the floor! I listened at the door and nothing seemed to happen. I slowly opened the door, glad it didn't make any sound while opening, and noticed Aveline sitting there. Obviously hungry as she had found a piece of meat. I stared at her, admired her and her curves. The Lady of Highever, who was now fully grown up, was sitting in their kitchen the night before going further to collect an army. Who could have guessed?

I quickly looked down. I have harrassed her enough. She loves Alistair. Don't be stupid, accept that! Keep her as a friend, regain her trust. I slowly walked in the room, knowing she hadn't noticed me yet. I stood against the wall while the door closed on its own. When it closed, she didn't look up though I knew she had heard it. Then I saw her realizing she had already closed the door herself and she quickly turned around to me.

~o~

"Bann Teagan!" I said while quickly swallowing the last piece of meat. I put down the rest and stood up.

"I was not aware of your presence, my apologies for sneaking into the kitchen. I was just so... hungry." I said again while my eyes were now more focussed on the floor. I hadn't been alone with Teagan since that night and it made me nervous a bit. Alistair wasn't here for me now nor were any of my other companions. I shifted on my feet.

"No worries." Bann Teagan said while he was staying where he was when he came in.

"I see you have found the meat the servants were saving?" He motioned towards the meat on the table.

"Yes, I'm sorry if it was meant for anyone." I looked up again.

"No, as I said, don't worry about it. I just heard noises coming from this area so I decided to take a look. Now that I know it's you, I think I'll go back to bed." he smiled. "Goodnight, my Lady." he said while turning back and heading out of the room again. _- Really? Was this it? -_ I felt a wave of relief coming over me. Bann Teagan seemed to have changed somehow. Maybe realized that he and I were never going to happen. I threw away the bones from the meat and took the rest with me while I headed back to my room. Somehow I felt a bit more comfortable walking here, knowing that he was realizing what his chances were. Maybe we could even be friends some day. I smiled and walked into my room. Feonar was sleeping and I sat down on a chair when I ate the last bit I had left. It was getting chilly outside the bed in just a simple dress. I quickly searched the blankets which were, for a second, even colder than the air. I shivered, but I was grateful for a night of sleep in a real bed. We weren't going to get this comfortable for a long time.


	13. A Promise is a Promise

**Hello all. First I want to wish my readers a happy 2011! May it bring you a lot of luck and joy and good health and of course, not to forget, a lot of reading pleasure. My next chapter took some time, sorry for that. My vacation turned out to playing more with the little cat instead of writing on the PC plus I'm having a bit of a "writingblock". Enjoy this chapter :)**

Warm. So... warm. I turned around. Everything around me felt so soft. I turned around again trying to locate the source where the warmth was coming from. Slowly I opened my eyes, and quickly noticed it was the sun shining through the window. This was a good moment to get out of bed. It was still early and I thought it would be best to leave as soon as possible. I sat on the edge and stretched myself. Feonar had woken up as well and was already jumping around.

"Let me get dressed, then we'll find something to eat allright?" I picked up my armor and put everything on. Once I was finished I quickly brushed my hair and made a simple knot in it. With this done me and Feonar moved towards the kitchen. I could hear noises coming from the main hall so I took some bread, gave Feonar what looked like left-over meat, and moved towards the noises. When I came in, everybody was already up and waiting for me and Feonar.

"You certainly took your time to get up." Morrigan said.

"It's not _that_ late, is it? I said in surprise. "Anyway, we should stop at camp. I made a promise to someone I need to fulfill now."

"All this delay will not get rid of the Archdemon, Warden." Sten said, looking as annoyed as always. I just smiled at him and moved over to Arl Eamon and Bann Teagan. It surprised me they were up as well at this hour.

"You have my thanks for your generosity, my Lord, but we must take our leave." I said with a bow.

"You're most welcome, Aveline. I wish you well with gathering the rest of your army." I nodded and made way to the door. Once outside I closed my eyes for a second, to absorb some more heat of the sun, before moving towards the camp. Once we arrived there, Levi ran over to me.

"You saved the Arl?"

"We did." I smiled. "Now I believe I made you a promise. Are you ready to depart?"

"Yes, I've got everything packed. I'm ready!" He said. "Oh I can't wait. Hopefully this will prove that my grandmother wasn't the bad person everyone thought she was." We barely arrived in camp when we left again. Our journey would lead us to Soldiers Peak. A lot has happened there, which included Levi's grandmother, Sophia. Levi had marked the map so we knew where to go. While we were walking I saw Alistair walking in the back of the group. I had already explained to the others where we were heading for the first bit of the journey so I decided to fall behind and meet up with Alistair.

"Hello!" He said cheerfully.

"You're happy today? Any specific reason?" I asked.

"No. No. Not really."

"Alistair...?"

"Yes...?"

"If you grew up in the Chantry, does that mean you never had... you know...?"

"I don't think I know what you mean?"

"You know what I mean." When I said this, I could see a smirk starting to appear on his face.

"Never had what? A good pair of shoes?"

"Now you're making fun of me..."

"Make fun of you, dear Lady? Perish the thought! Tell me, have _you_ ever licked a lamppost in winter?"

"Oh, reflecting this back on me now eh?" I said grinning while punching his arm. "No, I haven't licked a lamppost in winter." I said. I felt a little blush creeping on my cheeks. I remembered back to the guard I used to like back in Highever. We almost did do it, but never really gotten the chance. Either our parents called out for me, or him, or his mates were looking for him, or Fergus held him back when I walked to my room to meet him there only to notice he'd never show up.

"Me neither. I just never really had the chance." Alistair replied.

"So you're a virgin! And you're how old?" I joked.

"Says the one who hasn't done that either!" he chuckled.

"Yes, but I'm not as old as you are. At least you'll get some decent rest! At that age you really need it." I could see Alistair's eyes widen at my remark and I quickly ran out of reach.

"Get here you!" I heard Alistair yell. I couldn't run anymore, as my laugh took me over. Before I knew it I was tackled by Alistair and was now lying down on the cold ground, with an ex-templar on top of me.

"Now Now Alistair. You seem to be in a rush." I softly said wth a smile.

"Hmm..." was all he said back. He seemed focussed again. His face relaxed. I touched his face, and he closed in on me. His lips softly touched mine and I felt as if I was in another world again. He took my face with one hand, while he was trying not to put all the weight of his body on mine, with his other hand. The kiss was loving and passionate. So passionate, that I could feel something harden against me. It was something I didn't mind, though I knew we had other things to do at the moment. Like, getting as far as we could towards Soldiers Peak.

"Alistair." I whispered in between the kisses.

"Aveline." he simply stated. I pushed him off me so he was lying on the ground, and me on top of him.

"We should continue walking." I said. "Not that I mind doing what we just did... But we really should continue walking."

"Too bad." he said while he was getting up after I did. I led the way and looked back to see him smile. The rest had stopped after a few minutes, wondering where we were.

"Well Well Alistair!" Zevran stated. "Did you have fun back there? I would be able to give you a few tips you know? It was so quiet!"

"Wh... Eh.. Not listening! Lalalalala!" he replied while he quickly moved further with his fingers in his ears.

"Tis truely a wonder what she sees in him." Morrigan said out in the open.

"They say the endurance of Grey Wardens is remarkable. Though I wonder if they have actually tried that out..."

~o~

Finally we arrived at Soldiers Peak. There was snow everywhere and the building looked abandoned. Suddenly I saw a flash of a memory. My vision became blurry during this. When it was over, I noticed Levi staring at me.

"You saw that as well?"

I nodded and made way towards the Castle. During our time in Soldiers Peak it was clear that a lot had happened here. We got more flashbacks and somehow skeletons appeared out of nowhere, wanting to kill us. Luckily they weren't really hard to fight off and stopped after they had been killed. When we moved further into the rooms before we could make way to the tower, we noticed a figure standing behind a desk. I moved towards it, and it turned around. My eyes widened when I noticed what it was. It was the body of Sophia, Levi's grandmother. It had decayed, but somehow stayed preserved while the demon was in it. My thought about the demon was confirmed the moment it talked to us. I stared at Levi and noticed he was disappointed, but still had a bit of hope. Maybe it could tell us something about Sophia and maybe clear her name.

~o~

In the dark of the night, in a small room where only one candle was lit to give a small amount of light, the two men were standing. One was standing by the window, looking outside. The other was pooring himself a drink.

"You know I cannot do as you ask of me. She barely trusts me as it is."

"Then do your best to regain that trust!" he handed over the drink he just poored in. "You know what happens if they continue this way."

"Yes, Yes..."

"Don't neglect this so easily! We cannot have her with him if he's going to rule over us! Over Ferelden! It will also look like we're taken over by the Grey Wardens, but also she's not a good match."

"She is the best suitor for him and you know that! I know you wish me to continue with this plan of yours, but it will be difficult. I don't see why a Cousland couldn't be with him."

"It's not about the name anymore. Stop acting so stupid will you! It's in our best interest if she's away from him."

"I don't think we'll see them anytime soon though..."

"They still have to go to the Dwarves and the Elves. After that they will _have_ to come back."

"Who knows how long that will take!"

"Then write her a letter! Make an announcement that she's needed her for ... well think of something."

"Oh yes, I am sure that will reach her quickly."

"It will if you make sure the announcement will be in the cities she still has to go to." The door opened and a woman joined the two men.

"Ah, we were just discussing the Wardens."

"So I have heard. Your talk can be heard by everyone in the Castle. You should tone down. I do have another idea though." The conversation volumed down to whispering.

"Do tell."

"Do we still have the mage Jowan in custody?"

~o~

Soldiers peak had been saved from the "curse" that was inflicted upon it. They let Avernus live in the Tower, to continue his research, but without Grey Warden blood. He protested a little, but agreed he would do so. Sophia, or rather the demon that was living in her body, was denied its way into the world. It was far too dangerous to let a demon out in the open. Who knew what it would do without restrictions? Levi had announced that he and his family would set things up here, starting their own family business. It was a very long day. The fire at camp was very pleasant to sit next to. I was tired, and partly due to this I was feeling like I was frozen. The blanket around met helped a bit, and the fire did too, but somehow goosebumps kept making their way up my spine.

"Dear Warden, you look like you need someone to warm you up!" Zevran said while he sat next to me.

"Ha, that so Zev? And I assume you volunteer to do the job right?" I replied with a wink. Zevran only nodded in return and looked into the fire.

"This was a very strange day. Do you know where we're heading tomorrow?"

"I thought about getting to Orzammar, but stopping in Honnleath first. That guy who gave us the rod said we needed to go there for the golem. I wonder what they are like? I mean, I don't think I've ever seen a walking piece of stone!" I giggled.

"Me neither. I don't think they're very pleasing to take with you when you want to be kept warm!" I just smiled back.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh .. No Zev." I said with a small smile on my lips. "You go take your rest. I'm having first watch tonight anyway." When he stood up he put his hand on my shoulder for a moment before walking away. The bedroll across the fire screamed at me. I wanted to lie down and consume the warmth it would give me, though I knew that was not a wise thing to do. Everyone was asleep already. I couldn't help the memories creeping back into my mind. The last time I was in Highever, when we had a birthday party, was great. Except for the fact that my parents had invited every possible suitor for me, but the rest was wonderful. It was such a long time already and next month was already my birthday. I couldn't help being sad about the fact that my family was not around me. I felt blessed for the friends I had right now, but they were not my Mother, Father, Fergus, Oriana, Oren, Nan and everybody who normally would be around. I let out a sigh and stared up. This was useless. I had other things to worry about right now. I would get my vengeance, I was sure of it.

I barely noticed Morrigan behind me until she sat next to me.

"Tis my turn to keep watch now." She said.

"I... Yes. Thank you." She grabbed my wrist when I tried to get up.

"Is something wrong? I mean, I know Zevran has been asking as well, but you know as well as I do that his intentions are not always in the right place at certain moments."

"I'm sorry Morrigan, but I'm tired and wish to sleep now." Morrigan nodded, turning her head towards the fire straight afterwards. It seemed like the lived in her own world most of the time. I opened my tent and moved inside. I was barely focussed on my bedroll when I noticed someone was already in there. Tanned skin, light hair... Zevran!

"Zevran... what are you doing in my tent!" I said, trying not to wake anyone up. When he didn't respond I pushed on his shoulders a couple of times to wake him up. With the last push he suddenly took my arms so I couldn't move back.

"What do you think you're doing, Zev?"

"Hello, dear Warden. As I said before, you looked like you needed someone to warm you up and I'm here to do the job! Harrrr" he said with a smirk.

"Ah so I wasn't clear enough I suppose? No thank you Zevran. Can you please let me go now?"

"Ah, but my Warden. I cannot let you go that easily! I will remove myself from your bedroll and move to my own tent. Which is very cold at the moment I might add."

"Yes well... Maybe you can trick Morrigan into warming you up? She's near the fire."

"I have no hopes of getting Morrigan, Warden. Yes she is pretty, but she is not you." he winked. I rolled my eyes and motioned him to get out of my tent. When he did so, I noticed he was completely naked and didn't mind getting caught when moving out of my bedroll. I quickly looked the other way.

"Zevran! Have you no shame?"

"Me? No!" he laughed while moving out.

"Well, behave yourself will you! Just... go to sleep in your own tent."

"Patience, Warden. Patience. I'm already moving out. Goodnight!" he said while he quickly rushed away from my tent to his. Of course this little play wouldn't go unnoticed as Alistair had woken up and moved towards my tent.

"Psssh! Aveline!" I looked up.

"What must a woman do to get her sleep around here!" I softly said. "Yes, Alistair?" He opened up my tent and I faced him.

"What was Zevran doing here!" he whispered. He looked annoyed. There was no other reason than seeing Zevran running around naked I assumed.

"And was he...? Did you...?"

"Yes he was naked, and no we did not, Alistair. Zevran thought I needed someone to warm me up and he volunteered. Without me knowing he moved into my bedroll naked. Trust me, it's disturbing me more than you."

"Seriously, what is wrong with that fellow. Apart from assassinate people for a living!"

"You know... I could use some warming up. I mean, I have been out there, in the cold, and it was very very lonely as well." I started to blush.

"Are you certain? I mean... I have never... and neither have you. Not that I would mind." He said while he moved into the tent and closed it.

"I am." I said while I sat on my knees in front of Alistair. He sat the same way and I started to kiss him.

"All right. If there's anyone I would want to do this with it is you." He said in between the kisses. Slowly he removed my leather armor and I started to remove his. After some struggling we were both in our underclothes. Alistair's hand moved from my hair towards my neck and slowly moved on top of me. This felt absolutely right, and I was ready for it. We both continued very passionately.


	14. A Heart of Stone

**My next chapter has arrived! I hope you enjoyed the last one. Please, do not hesitate to leave reviews. I appreciate the views going up when I post a chapter, but a review here and there is highly appreciated as well ;-) Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

We arrived early in the little town. Something did not feel right though. It seemed as if this town was a ghost town. There was nobody left, and it was extremely quiet. Soon after we arrived I felt the familiar tugging inside of me. Darkspawn. We moved further into the little village and saw the Darkspawn I felt earlier. They weren't any different than the others we fought. After they'd been killed I looked around. The village was no more than a couple of houses all pointed towards the golem in the middle. This might be the golem that we were looking for. I moved towards it and said the words I received from the man who gave me the rod. Nothing happened.

"It looks like that guy betrayed us, or was given the wrong password himself." Alistair said.

"I hope for him it's the latter." I replied back. I looked around some more and decided to try and see if the doors of the houses were open. While I did that Alistair started looting the corpses with the rest. After having tried almost every door, one finally opened.

"Let's go guys, I found an open door. Let's hope we can find out more about the golem in here." I barely finished my sentence when I already moved into house. Darkspawn seemed to have taken over everything here, as I felt the tugging inside me again. I let out a sigh. - _Here we go again_ - In the house we also found some strange crystals. One was placed on a desk. There were quite a few papers with it as well. I moved towards the crystal. It was pretty, and almost seemed like a diamond of some sort. I put out my hand to touch it, and before I was even close I could feel this wasn't a regular crystal. There was magic surrounding it. I ignored my instinct to walk away from it and picked it up. It didn't seem to do anything to me. I turned around and put it in the pack I carried with me.

"This might come in handy. Maybe. If we'll find out what it's for..." I grinned. We moved further into the house and, with the occasional Darkspawn, we found a barrier. We noticed people were behind it, hiding from the Darkspawn who we had killed. For them, the house was safe again now. I couldn't help, but think that these people were very lucky to have this barrier raised up somehow. While the rest decided to sit down for a moment and get some rest after the fight, I moved towards the man behind the barrier.

"Thank the Maker you have found us!" he exclaimed. "I thought we were going to die here for sure!"

"It's more luck based I'm afraid, but I'm glad we could help. Have you raised this barrier yourself?" I asked. The man nodded and prepared himself to remove it for us. While he did so, my curiosity won it from me. I moved closer to the barrier and touched it. My touch caused the barrier to ripple on that spot, like water would do when a rock is thrown in. The man removed the barrier and we walked towards the group. Everyone was relieved they were finally freed and after being reassured that the Darkspawn wouldn't return as we had slain them, they moved out of the house. I focussed back on the man. Something seemed to bother him, but I couldn't help being a bit selfish and ask my question first.

"That golem outside, is it broken?"

"The golem? What do you want _that_ for! It hasn't worked for years." He started to look annoyed now.

"Well... We have received the words for it to be released, but it failed somehow. We believe the man who gave us the rod either betrayed us or gave us the wrong words."

"Which have you used?" he asked. I told him what words I received and he started to grin.

"That isn't correct no. The golem used to belong to my mother once. After it did more harm than we could handle, she made sure it could never be used again. I'm afraid I can't help you."

"If your mother knew the correct ones she must have told you about it." I continued. The man sighed, obviously not content with my pushing. Then I noticed something flicker in his eyes.

"Actually, there is something you can do. If you'll help me, I'll give you the correct words for the golem. Maybe it's better that it leaves this village."

"All right, what can we do for you?"

"My daughter got scared of the Darkspawn and ran further in the house through this door." he pointed towards the open door next to him. "If you get her back up here, I will reward you with the correct sentence. I'm afraid something has happened in there." I nodded and with my companions, moved through the door. This part seemed darker than the rest of the house, and somehow it felt more like a cave than a basement. Morrigan came up next to me. I could tell that she had noticed something.

"Magic?" I asked her. She nodded in return. I wouldn't feel any Darkspawn here, but same as in the Circle Tower these would be demons, I figured. We moved further and suddenly, when we were in the middle of the first room, four demons spawned around us. Everybody immediately started to do what they did best and it didn't take long for them to die. When we finally arrived in the last room, I could see a little girl talking to a cat. Alistair, who walked in front of us, nearly walked through the doorway when I stopped him.

"Look. It's.. different. Can you see what I mean? As if another barrier has been raised here to protect something."

"Tis probably to keep something in that room." Morrigan continued. "Can you see that square thing overthere? Maybe something is trapped within."

"We'll have to get in there anyway, as you promised to save the girl, Ave." Alistair noted.

"True. Okay let's move in and see what we're up against." When we moved in the cat stared at me. I started to feel strange. I tried to ignore the cat and speak to the girl.

"Your father is waiting for you. Are you coming with me? I know he would be very glad to see you as he's really worried!"

"I can't leave kitty alone here! We were just playing. Can she come?"

"I'm sorry, she can't. If you get to your father I'll see what I can do though?" I said, trying to persuade the little girl.

"Don't leave me alone!" I suddenly heard. When I looked down I noticed the cat's eyes had turned purple. So this is where the demon has been hiding. The cat was looking at the little girl and the demon used its power to persuade the girl of staying.

"I won't go, kitty! I promise."

"See? She doesn't want to leave with you. She trusts only me. Now tell me, who are you and what are you doing here?" it asked.

"I am Aveline, and I'm here to take the girl to her father."

"Well, that is not going to happen, but you might have guessed that already." it slyly said.

"What do you need from her that you won't let her go?"

"She is my ticket out of here. It won't take long and she will allow me to take over her body and see the world with my own eyes. Then, I can finally leave this place. I've been here far too long. In this form I'm unable to move through that barrier, but in her..."

"You know I can't let you do that, demon."

"Ah don't spoil things so fast. Maybe we could reach a compromise." I crossed my arms. A compromise with a demon would always result in bad news sooner or later. I raised my eyesbrows and waited on what the demon had to say. It continued asking if I would allow the little girl to be taken over. I sighed and turned around. How could I let a little girl's life get ruined and let a demon out in the world. I lowered my head, still standing with my back towards the demon, and agreed to it's request. It was excited to finally have a chance to see the world and informed us that we needed to solve the puzzle in order to let the barrier go down. The puzzle was a giant square with little squares within. Those little squares had arrows and we had to find a way to let it point into a straight line towards the bottom right of the giant square. Each arrow which was pointed in the right direction was set in flames.

Alistair walked towards me and took me aside before I could start finishing the puzzle.

"You're not seriously considering this are you? I mean, it's a demon. We cannot let a demon go just like that?"

"Alistair, you have to trust me on this. It's not 'just like that' at all." I whispered back. I took his shoulders and looked in his eyes. "Please, just wait and see all right?" He nodded and I moved towards the puzzle. I could move the pieces very easily. It took me a while, but I was now standing with the last puzzle piece, which I only had to move to the right. I pushed the little square and the flames started to spread to the end of the line. We could hear some kind of "woosh" sound and knew the barrier had been removed. I walked back to the demon, who was still in the cat.

"It's done!" the demon said. Not a muscle moved in my face. "Thank you! I will take over the girl and see the world. I can't wait!"

"No you're not." I looked it in it's cat eyes and saw the surprise.

"What do you mean, no! You have betrayed me?" I glanced over to Alistair and noticed he was smiling.

"Well, I could say that I'm sorry, but I'm not." The demon used it's magic to grow into it's full size and the cat was gone. There was now a purple femalelike demon standing in front of me.

"You will pay for that." it said. Fire demons started to spawn from the corners of the room, and my companions and myself were immediately triggered to go into battle. The demon didn't linger on words anymore and started to attack the person closest do itself. In this case, it was Zevran.

"Continue, I will keep the demon occupied." he said and before I knew it he was dancing around the demon. Wynne was freezing the fire demons who were close to herself. She wasn't a warrior, and I thought to myself that she would need help first. Alistair could fight those on him off more easily. I found it strange that fire demons could be harmed just like any other person, with daggers. The fire demon bursted out of it's freezing state and raged at Wynne. It let out a trail of fire, moving towards her. Before I could yell to Wynne to move out, the fire was exploding and threw her against the wall. I finished the demon from behind it's back and moved to Wynne. She was hurt, but she already tried to get up her feet. When she did, she casted out a mass rejuvation. When all the fire demons died, I moved straight towards the demon who wanted to take over the little girl. It didn't use any swords, but could somehow cast off my weapon's blows every now and then. Alistair taunted the demon, so it would attack him and I moved behind it's back and stabbed it. When it fell on it's knees I walked so I was in front of the demon and slit it's throat. This demon would be no threat to the people here anymore, and the girl was saved.

"Where did the girl go?" I asked. The fight must have scared her off.

"I think she went up again. Maybe her father has found her already." Zevran replied. I nodded and we moved up again. When we arrived in the room where they were, we could see the girl. She was indeed with her father and he was more than happy that she wasn't hurt.

"Thank you so much for saving my daughter. I promised you the right words. Hopefully you can make sure the golem won't do any harm anymore." he calmly said. He gave us the words as promised and we got outselves ready to move up and out of the house again.

"It wasn't a problem and I'm glad she's okay. Thank you, we'll get the golem away from here." I replied when we left. When we were out of the house we walked towards the golem. I looked at it, examinering it from the bottom to the top. It really was just stone, and I wondered a brief second if it really was something that could speak and think for itself.

"Let's do this." I said, and I said the words I just received out loud. When I was finished, something shifted and I could see the golem stirr. It came to life and now it looked like it was stretching and freeing its muscles. The eyes opened and they were shining. My mouth opened a bit in surprise and not long after it stared back at me.

"Aaaah. Finally I can move again! I assume it was the reason for that?

"It? Oh.. me? Well, yes I was."

"It has my thanks. It cannot imagine how boring it was to look at these people all that time."

"You could actually see them?"

"Yes of course, did it think I was standing there for my fun? Does it have a name by the way?

"My name is Aveline."

"I am Shale. I am glad to be free, but something is quite different. Could it try to command me? It does have the rod doesn't it?"

"Yes I do. Okay... Hug Zevran!" I said. I could see Zevran backing up, realizing a huge stone golem was a bit too much.

"Nothing." Shale said, obviously surprised at it. "Nothing has happened. That means I am free? What shall I do now that I am free? Maybe I can help it with whatever it is doing?"

"You're more than welcome Shale." I replied. I was glad to have extra companions for our quests.

"Oh," I said, realizing I still had something in my pack. "Maybe you can use these?" I took out the crystal and looked at it. Then I looked at Shale and noticed there were tiny holes around the shoulders. I put a crystal in and it started the light up.

"It has found some crystals? Oh they look wonderful! I love them, I really do. If it finds more it knows who to give them to!" Shale said. With Shale as company we started to leave the little village. There was nothing left for us to get or to do. The people here were now freed from the Darkspawn and freed from Shale. When we were nearly out of the village Shale stopped. I turned around to look at the huge stone golem and noticed there was some bird poo on the left shoulder.

"I will make sure these species are killed..." Shale said, annoyed that birds excisted. I silently laughed and we continued our way to camp. Shale quickly had an own place to stand and sleep. If it would ever sleep at all. When we had all eaten it was already dark. I offered to take first watch. This was a very long day and I didn't had a moment for myself yet. There weren't many sounds at night, and those that were around were from insects, or flowing water. When my watch had nearly ended, nothing much had happened. Alistair had woken up as he was coming to sit next to me. He put his arm around me and pushed me towards him and gave me a kiss on my cheek. I smiled at him and continued to stare at the fire.

"It's nearly time for Leliana's watch. Care to join me in my tent when she's ready?" he whispered in my ear. I nodded and he walked towards his own tent again. It didn't take long for Leliana to come as I noticed her changing in her tent. I stared at the ground. With a stick I drew in the dirt. I made a circle and in the middle I made a tiny candle. When I could hear Leliana walking towards the fire I made myself ready to go to Alistair's tent.

"Happy Birthday to me." I silently sung to myself. Leliana soon sat next to me and I stood up to go to Alistair's tent.


	15. A Regular day in Orzammar?

**Hello guys, I'm back again with yet another chapter. I hope you're going to like this.**

_The sky was dark and thunder was coming out of the clouds. It looked like it was going to rain any second now. My vision was blurry as well, as if I had just woken up and my eyes needed to adjust. The building was destroyed. Even worse, every building I saw was destroyed. This was a village and we were standing near the gates. There were a lot of Darkspawn corpses everywhere. Those which still lived were quickly killed by those who I thought were friends of some sort. I couldn't really tell who they were and my vision did not seem to improve at all. I could see a man waving, and I immediately walked over, uncertain if the wave was meant for me. I barely noticed that suddenly I was with just a couple of people, moving further into the burnt village._

_Then my mind flashed over, back to someone else who was moving to another part of the city. He was fast and managed to stay hidden from the Darkspawn for most of his journey. Every now and then a single Darkspawn was walking around and he would kill them without a doubt. I could feel rage. His rage. I could also feel fear. Fear for what he was going to do. Those were overruled by his courrage though. He know what he was meant to do would save a lot of people and was more important than his current feelings. He moved fast, and my already blurred vision was worse while he moved. Everything was starting to have lines behind them. It made me feel sick. When he stood still, I was grateful. He arrived at a tower and started to climb it. I tried to yell, keep him away from the tower. I didn't know what I'd want to do that. When I heard a roar I looked up. Something was flying in the sky and it was fast. It had more rage than the person I was with. Suddenly I was at the top of the tower and noticed the huge flying thing coming towards me. My body moved on its own and I was now on the beast. Yes it was a beast all right and it smelled._

_It noticed I was on it and started to move to throw me off. It moved towards another tower and with its back, tried to push me off. I jumped and couldn't get back on the back of the beast anymore. I was now hanging on its side and when it started to move more, I thrusted my sword in a wing. It didn't hold and my sword, and me hanging on it, fell down. It sliced open the entire wing of the beast. I could hold it anymore and feel off the beast. My sword was flying out of my hands as a result of getting stuck in the beast. I could feel gravity swallowing me up. All I could see was the sky. It remained dark, and I felt as if I had failed my duty. I had failed what I lived for. I had failed my order. It was as if the beast laughed at me while striking down on a nearby tower. My eyes widened. I could almost feel the ground coming towards me. Suddenly I was not looking at the sky, but at the ground. Something or someone was blocking my view and the ground closed in really fast. Twenty feet, fiftheen feet, ten feet, five feet..._

~o~

I screamed as loud as I could and sat up in one move. I could feel the sweat dripping everywhere. I inhaled deeply a couple of times and finally became aware of my surroundings. I was in a tent, Alistair's to be more precise. I looked next to me and noticed I had woken him up with my screaming.

"I... I'm sorry." I said, while I removed some of the sweat of my face.

"Bad dream eh?" I nodded.

"This wasn't one like those others I've had though. It was entirely new." Alistair looked surprised. I could see he was tired so I felt bad for waking him up. "Let's discuss it tomorrow all right? We should sleep." Alistair was about to object, and I knew he'd stay awake for me all night if he had to, but I shook my head and lay down again only to fall in a dreamless sleep.

~o~

In a Castle, where everyone were enjoying their warm beds, a few people were still awake. Even though sleep crawled deeper in their eye lids, they tried their hardest to keep them open.

"Do you have all the ingredients?" the woman said. The mage nodded. He was insecure about his actions, as he did not want to do them.

"Well, what are you waiting for then! Mix them, or whatever you have to do with it!"

"Isolde, are you certain you want to do this? I mean, I know that my..."

"Teagan, shut up will you. You are going to benefit from all of this."

"It won't be real, Isolde! I can't let you do this! I refuse to cooperate and send messengers to Orzammar"

"It's a good thing Eamon has already sent out messengers to Orzammar."

"He did what?" At that very moment, Eamon walked in the room.

"I strongly suggest to keep your voice down." he said in a dangerous tone.

"Eamon, we should stop this. It's going too far. If we have to do this I'd rather do it myself, without any weird potions."

"If we'd let you do that, we have no chance at all. Be real brother, you'd have a wife by now if you were that good." Defeated, Teagan looked away from his brother.

~o~

We were standing near Orzammar. We still had to cross the bridge, but that was a matter of seconds. Before the bridge I could see a group of people standing. They weren't like any others. They wore armor and weapons. Obviously they were looking someone. It turned out they were looking for us, and when they saw us, they did not hesitate to try and murder the whole group. After the group of bandits was killed and looted I walked towards the gates of Orzammar. It seemed that there was trouble everywhere. In front of the gates were a couple of men, wanting to go in. From what I could hear the dwarf in front of those gates held them back. I walked up the stairs to join the conversation and introduced myself and my companions, saying we're Grey Wardens in the need of Orzammar's help. The dwarf shook his head and notified that there was no King, thus no help available. I showed him the treaties and he agreed we could go in, but warned us we might find little we'd need. This caused the group of men to become more angry than they already were. They were shouting, calling us traitors, besically wanting to pick a fight with us. I walked towards the front man until I nearly touched his nose with mine.

"Why don't you run back to your Loghain and say we're not finished with him yet." I calmly said. The man didn't quite know what to do and scowled at us and moved away from Orzammar. The dwarf let out a sigh and opened the gates so we could go in. The halls were huge! It seemed very dark as there was no sunlight at all, and the firt hall was filled with giant statues. On every statue was a description what they were for, or who they were. We opened the second gate and moved further into Orzammar. It seemed shaped like half a circle and the ceiling was even higher than the one in the first hall. I looked around and quickly noticed another fight was going on right in front of us. We moved further towards the fight, and saw a dwarf getting stabbed. The person and his mates who were responsible for that quickly ran away after threatening those who were with the dwarf, who was now on the floor. They ran away as well, avoiding troubles it seemed, but also abandoning their fellow dwarf. I quickly walked towards the dwarf on the floor and felt in his neck. There was no heartbeat, he was dead.

"What's going on here?" I whispered to myself. We could go two ways, to the left, or to the right. I decided to move to the right first. Maybe it was best to try and figure out what was going on here first. When we were near the gate of the Diamond Quarters I noticed some salesmen at the left side. I moved towards them and saw that one of those men was selling a mirror. It was the same kind of mirror I remembered Morrigan talking about. We didn't talk much, but I accepted her for how she was. You cannot change your nature, especially if you've been like that all your life. Not fast anyhow. Morrigan was sent with us by Flemeth and even though I didn't knew Flemeth's reasons for it, I had decided long ago not to interfere with Morrigan so much. Her mirror was smashed by Flemeth and I could only imagine the hurt of a child. Seeing something it dearly liked getting smashed into a thousand pieces just like that. I purchased the mirror and put it in my pack. Now was not the time to hand out gifts. We moved further to the Diamond Quarters and my eyes searched for the building where dwarves might actually help us. The dwarf in front of the outside gates said we could try the Assembly to get some help. So here we were, standing right in front of the door. I opened them and we moved inside. We were barely in when a dwarf stopped us.

"Hold there. You cannot go further. State your business, please." he said.

"I'm Aveline and we're here with treaties, requesting Orzammar for help against the blight." I said. The dwarf started to laugh.

"Help, eh? We haven't even got a King yet and by the looks of it, it will take a while before it is decided as well." He scanned me and my companions and shifted on his feet. "Maybe you can do something to help? If you support Prince Bhelen so he will be King, I'm sure he'll also give you what you need for those treaties." I sighed. Everywhere we went, people needed our help in exchange for the help we needed.

"All right. What do you need?" I asked. The dwarf smiled and told us what to do after he introduced himself as Vartag. Our assignment was to get some letters to a couple of people. He had written the names down and gave it to me. When we left the building, another dwarf came running towards us. He ran hard as he was catching his breath, but he signed for us to wait. When he could speak, he asked us to help support Lord Harrowmont. The word about Grey Wardens in Orzammar had spread like a wild fire which was exactly why he knew where to find us. I looked at the dwarf and informed him we were already on Bhelen's side. He started to look annoyed and uttered some words to us. I opened the paper I was given and looked at the names that were on there.

"Lord Helmi and Lady Dace" On our way back to the general hall, I noticed a female dwarf standing near, what I assumed was, her house. I addressed her, asking where we could find Lady Dace. She looked up surprised and said we had found her. I gave her another piece of paper I had received, saying that Lord Harrowmont was betraying her and her house. Rage started to build up inside her and she gave us a pass and a seal while saying we had to enter the deep roads. Her father was in there and he was the only one who could make a decision concerning the family vote. Of course we agreed to go to her father and it didn't take long for us to stand in the general hall again. We moved towards the deep roads and the guards let us pass when the saw what Lady Dace had given us. It impressed me to see how large it was in here. It didn't took long to find Lord xxx and after the little dragons were slain we notified him about Lord Harrowmont's plans. He couldn't believe he would betray the family just like that, promising things to two families while he knew only one could have it. He agreed to change his vote to Lord Bhelen. We decided to join his group to move out of the Deep Roads. We were nearly finished, though I still had to find Lord Helmi. I heard rumors he was in the Tapster's Tavern so we quickly made way towards it. It was best if this would end as soon as possible and if there was a King on the throne quickly. When we arrived at the Tavern, we could almost smell the alcohol from the outside.

"What is that smell? Dwarven vomit? Charming." Alistair said while putting on a face as if he himself was going to throw up.

"I know, prepare for what's inside." I laughed back at Alistair. When we entered the Tavern Alistair continued babbling.

"You know, I tried dwarven ale once. I thought it was just something they tricked surfacers into drinking, as a joke..." While he continued my eyes scanned the room. All these dwarves, how would I know which one was Lord Helmi. I decided to direct my question to a barmaid. She pointed to the back of the Tavern. The dwarf was sitting at a table and looked up when we stood in front of him. He obviously was drunk, though he still had some sense in him as when he saw the papers there was a hint that he might change his vote to Bhelen. We decided to move out of the Tavern quickly, before any of us would throw up due to the strong ale smell. Alistair sighed relieved when we stepped outside and we decided to move to Vartag to report how we had been doing.

~o~

Finally... after hours of waiting I saw the Grey Warden enter the Tavern. She was with a couple of other people, of which one was the other Grey Warden. This was about the woman though. Nerves started to build up inside me and I knew it was now or never. She had been talking to another dwarf for a minute and was now moving outside already so I decided to follow her. She stopped at the building prince Bhelen was in. What were they up to? When they came out, fiftheen minutes later I knew I had to make my move.

I walked, as calmly as I could, towards the Grey Warden. She looked annoyed, and the others she was with as well. I didn't care about the reasons behind that. I had a mission to complete. I addressed the woman and apologized for disturbing her. She's so very kind. She said it was no problem. Oh if only she knew what had started. I told her I had information for her. Information that was very valuable. I knew about Orzammar's problems, with the possible Kings. That it would take ages to decide. So I hinted it might contain information she could use for that. I asked her if we could discuss this somewhere else. Somewhere private. Where nobody could see and/or overhear us. She agreed to it and motioned for her companions to follow. This is not going to way it should. They cannot join! Apologetic I asked her if we could talk in private, without her companions. She could fill them in herself, but I said I was afraid someone would notice. Someone would kill me. She's too naive. She agreed to my request and we moved to private quarters. She sat near the table and asked me what kind of information I had received.

"I'm a messenger." I told her. She started to get even more annoyed. She must have had a rough day. She didn't know it was going to be even rougher for her. She tapped with her fingers on the table. I motioned her to follow, that I wanted to show her something. After this, I had no excuses anymore. My companion snuck up behind us from the shadows. He was quiet, so very quiet. When I opened my drawer, I noticed her eyes widened. There was nothing in the drawer I knew that. When I smiled to her, my companion quickly pulled her behind and put a piece of cloth in front of her. The cloth had been dipped into a liquid that could take out everything when they would inhale it. She struggled, oh how she struggled! My companion threw her on the bed and I helped to restrain her. We tied her hands around her back and she had passed out. She had tried to scream, but luckily it ended quickly. We had her. Our mission was nearly complete.


	16. Divided into two

**Hello readers. I have heard that the POV's were confusing sometimes, especially in my last chapter. Which I cannot blame you. So hereby a chapter which hopefully be more easy, and less confusing hehe.**

- Alistair POV -

I paced back and forth. If I would continue like this surely the ground would fall away underneath me and I would be swallowed by the earth. Why did she agree to the request to be spoken alone. Why did the man not trust me? I'm a Grey Warden too, just like her! I started to bite my fingernails while pacing. My gutfeeling didn't go away. This didn't feel right. Luckily we Grey Wardens had some kind of signal when other Wardens were around, just like the Darkspawn. My head shot up and I stood still.

"Are you all right, Alistair? You needn't worry. I'm sure she's just fine." Wynne said. I knew she only said that to comfort me, but I wasn't just the silly boy people thought I was. I shook my head.

"No Wynne. I don't feel her as strongly as I did before." I said. I moved to the door of the building they went in. "We should check on them." I continued and without another word I forced myself into the building. The others followed me straight away. Hopefully they realized I wasn't talking nonsense. I stood still again and focussed.

"She's moving. The little 'signal' I have is moving away. We have to find her, and quickly!" I started running and soon came into a room. I was certain she had been in here. I checked out every corner. I could see an open drawer and the bed looked like it was molested.

"Alistair..." Zevran carefully said. I didn't respond. I knew what was going on here. I knew I shouldn't have let her in here alone. I closed my eyes and damned my stupidity.

"I think she has been kidnapped." the Antivan continued. Rage builded up inside me. Before I knew it I was falling out to Zevran.

"Tell me something I don't know!" I wished I could turn back time and follow her straight in from the moment she walked with the man. "Seriously, why would someone do this! We're only helping these people and trying to gather an army for the Blight! How are we going to do that now she's gone!." I continued to search for Aveline. I didn't feel anything anymore. She was out of my reach.

"Alistair, we will go look for her." Zevran said.

"Yes. We must go now." I said unpatiently.

"No. I mean... Alistair, you are the only Grey Warden here now. You must stay and resolve this 'Orzammar needs a King' business. Leliana and I will go look all right? Wynne, Morrigan and Shale can help you here."

"What? You can't expect me to stay here and do nothing!"

"Alistair, I know you're very fond of Aveline, but you have to let Zevran and Leliana look for her. You have a responsibility here, do not forget that." Wynne said. She put a hand on my arm to comfort me. I knew she was right. This lady might be old, but she knew what she was doing. I nodded and Zevran and Leliana immediately pushed us away.

"Let us do our job, Alistair. We will keep you informed." Leliana said. Once outside I couldn't help to feel like I let down the one and only person I loved. Reluctant I moved to Prince Bhelen to report that we've done what he asked us to do. When we arrived, he wondered where the other Grey Warden was. When Wynne notified him what had happened, he didn't look utterly shocked. He simply requested if we were able to do what was needed for Orzammar. I confirmed that we would and he gave us yet another mission to do. We were to kill Jarvia. She was supposed to be the leader from Orzammar's "underworld". This was my time to be a leader and I had no choice in this. I let Aveline be the leader, because she was so very talented. It was natural for her. But here I was, forced to be the leader myself. While we were on Bhelen's second mission, my thoughts were at Aveline.

~o~

- Aveline POV -

I was starting to wake up. My head hurt and it felt like something was wrapped around it. In the distance I could hear whispering. My mind started to clear up more and more and soon I realized that I wasn't just sleeping. I was taken by someone. Whoever did it, had bound a piece of cloth around my eyes so I couldn't see. They also put tape around my mouth so I couldn't speak. I felt rope around my wrists as well. I was lying on a hard floor and I knew we were moving. I could hear the horse steps from here and the carriage, asumming I was in one, was shaking every now and then. The whispering continued. I gave no sign of being awake. This way I could listen what they were talking about.

"Are we nearly there?" a man whispered.

"Can you just keep quiet? No we're not. You know that." another man, sounding annoyed.

"Why do I have to be quiet! It's not like we'll wake her! We're whispering already!" he said in a more angry tone.

"What if we do, eh? Have you thought about that? You know that part of our mission is that she cannot be hurt. If she wakes, we'll have to put her to sleep again, and that can cause some damage as we've ran out of our sleeping drug."

"Maybe you're right." the man mumbled under his breath. This didn't help me much. I still had no idea where we were going or why I was captured. I decided to start to move, maybe free my hand. I didn't care about the two men knowing I was finally awake. I made as little noise as possible to try and free myself as much as I could. The ropes were put tightly around my hands, and it was difficult for me to try and get them off. Not long after I tried to move myself out the men noticed I was awake.

"See what you have caused!" one yelled to the other.

"Oh yes, it is my fault she was woken up!"

"Now there there Lady. You better be calm, as we will not fear to hurt you to shut you up."

"ouw o wowt wow who ouw aw eewin wiwh!" I tried to say. The man sighed.

"Do you promise to keep quiet if we remove the tape from your mouth? Don't forget, we've got more where that came from if you break your promise." I nodded and the man removed the tape. Though the actual ripping off the tape was painful, it was a relief, finally being able to breath through my mouth again. Feel my lips again, not being pushed against each other due to some stupid tape.

"I said... You do not know who you are dealing with."

"Oh, but that is where you are wrong dear Lady. We know exactly who we are dealing with." The man started to laugh. "You are a Grey Warden." he continued.

"Why did you take me? We have an important mission to complete. There is a Blight you know! We need an army!"

"Oh don't you worry about that. Your fellow Grey Warden is working on that."

"Oh..." So Alistair was not looking for me. Did they know I was gone? I mean, they have to know. I could only hope someone would come after me.

"They'll come and find me, you know." I continued. It was the last thing I had to say. I still couldn't see or move. What good could I do while they still had me here?

"Watch her. Don't let her move and if she starts to scream, use the tape."

- Alistair POV -

We were standing in front of Jarvia. We had killed her men when we tried to get to her and she was obviously pissed about that. She was now going on and on about that and refused to bow for any would be King. When we tried to convince her she yelled for her guards to attack us. Somehow she wanted to leave me alive, which confused me and gave me an uneasy feeling as well. Before her first guard was near us, we charged forward. Shale and myself were moving towards Jarvia. I shouted for Shale to keep the guards away from the mages. After all, no matter how good their magic would be, if they were getting hit by the swords, they wouldn't last long. Shale did as asked and I focussed on Jarvia.

"Sunshine, if you would just surrender to me I will promise to let you all live..." she said. More rage builded up inside me and I shook my head in between the fighting.

"I can't do that. You have to submit yourself or die. I've got a mission to complete." I said. She didn't continue the talk and started to fight rougher. Suddenly Jarvia disappeared into the shadows.

"Guys. Look out, Jarvia has disappeared and can come out anywhere." The number of guards were decreasing fast. They didn't stand a chance at a giant stone golem and the two mages backing her up. Without notice Jarvia hit the back of her blade onto my head, causing me to fall down on the floor. I refused to let her take me down just like that. It was too easy, and way too sneaky. Shale ran over to Jarvia and I was grateful she noticed me fall. Not that it was hard too. My armor made a lot of noise the moment I hit the floor. I regained myself and stood up to face Jarvia. With all my strength I swung my blade at her, along with Shale. Morrigan and Wynne had finished of the last guards and now focussed on Jarvia as well. I could feel a rejuvation of Wynne flowing over me and immediately felt better. With the last swung I hit Jarvia. She fell back and I could see a trail of blood flowing down. She had a cut across her chest, though it wasn't deep enough to kill her. Yet it was hurting a lot, I could tell from the way she looked at me. My mind was blank when I thrusted the sword into her heart. I took my sword back, cleaned it and sheated it again. I moved to the rooms which were nearby and we collected some valuable items before moving out. The way out was a simple tunnel which was probably a secret way for her and those who followed her. At the end of the tunnel was a room. When we walked further into the room a man screamed in shock.

"Aaaah! What are you doing here! What have you done to my wall! Who are you!" the man said. We calmed him down and quickly informed him that there was a tunnel made by Jarvia's men. The man feared for his store and reputation so we also informed him that they were dead. He seemed relieved, but nonetheless thew us out of his store. We had finished what we were asked to do and I could only hope that this was the last thing. Within minutes we arrived at Prince Bhelen.

"We have done as you asked." I said.

"Yes I know. Word travels fast, especially as everybody knows you're a Grey Warden."

"So can we have our troops for the blight?"

"How do you think I can arrange that. I'm not King yet. In order for me to take my fathers Throne we need the word of someone strong. Someone powerfull." Bhelen clamped his fists together while he had an image of that someone in his mind. "We need the word of a Paragon!"

"A Paragon?"

"And the only one I can think of is now venturing into the Deep Roads." Bhelen started to smile. "Her name is Branka. Fetch her for me and watch me become King if you succeed. Then you will have your troops." I sighed and closed my eyes. Yet another mission for this man while Aveline was gone. I didn't receive a word from Zevran and Leliana yet either. My heart told me to go look for Aveline, but I knew we needed to do this. We had a blight to end. I could only trust that Zevran and Leliana would find her. I agreed to Bhelen's request and we moved towards the Deep Roads. The minutes we spent walking to the entrance my thoughts were elsewhere. When we were near the entrance I bumped into something.

"Hey you idiot. Watch where you walk will you?" I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"Yeah, Yeah. Cut the nonsense. I am Oghren and I heard you were going in to the Deep Roads. Is that true?"

"Well yes it is."

"Then I am coming with you! My wife is in there, and has been for a long long time. It's about time she would return now."

"Excuse me? Do you really think you could force yourself in our mission?" Morrigan snapped.

"It is my wife we are talking about!"

"He's coming with us."

"Oh so now you're going to play the leader? Aveline is gone and you feel like you should take over? Tis about time you take over. After all, were you not the Senior Grey Warden of Ferelden now?"

"Shut up Morrigan."

"Ah so you do seem to have a spine after all. You must be glad to finally do what you should have done from the start."

"Don't force me to leave you here, because I will!" I snapped back. I was now an inch away from Morrigan's face. "Aveline is a born leader, and I didn't mind for her to take control. I do not feel comfortable to lead, I admit, but I have to now don't I!" Morrigan's mouth twitches as she wanted to respond to that.

"Shut up, Morrigan. Why don't you just go and annoy the sales men over there. We'll manage without you." Wynne tried to calm me down, but I pushed her away from me. I started walking into the Deep Roads and barely noticed that the guards wished us luck in there. The others, besides from Morrigan, were following me and stayed silent. The mood wasn't improving now that Aveline was gone. I couldn't stand Morrigan and she knew it. She hated me too, I was sure of it. Maybe I was too harsh on her. She was here to help us after all. I briefly wondered how long she would stay without Aveline in the picture. I shook my head. I didn't want to think about Morrigan. I also didn't want to think about Aveline. It pained me to think she was captured, and not knowing what they were doing to her. I pushed those thoughts out as good as I could. My only focus should be this mission. The so called Paragon. Why would a Paragon venture in the Deep Roads to never return. What did she think to gain?

I felt the familiar tugging inside of me. This place was filled with Darkspawn. I looked around and took in the surroundings. The halls were high, and the smell wasn't something I'd miss. I stood still to look where we should go. I took out the map from my pack and saw the direction we need to go to. We were standing in front of a small tunnel, one that had been carved right through the walls. We could also follow the main road. I decided to take the small tunnel.

"Alistair." Wynne carefully said. "Are you all right?" I turned around to look at Wynne. Her eyes were filled with concern. I knew she had spoken with Aveline once as she came straight to me after they had their discussion. Aveline thought it was nonsense that Wynne was so concerned for him. For the both of them. For what their relationship would cost.

"I'm sorry for pushing you away like that. At the entrance I mean."

"It is all right dear. You are worried for her, aren't you?" It was an obvious question, but maybe one that needed to be asked. Now was just not the right time for this.

"Yes, I am. Though I do not wish to discuss this further. Not here. We have a Paragon to find." I said, trying to smile to convince her it was not _that_ bad. I knew she could see right through that, but she nodded anyway.

"Onward then." I said and motioned to the small tunnel.


	17. You're on your own

**This chapter took a bit longer, though I hope it pays of your patience ^_^ Enjoy.**

- Alistair POV -

The Deep Roads bored me. It was the same view over and over again. Every now and then a group of Darkspawn entertained us, but after they died and were looted everything was the same already. Oghren made a fun addition to the group though. His humor was a bit weird and he was drunk. It was a while ago that Oghren could have taken his last drink, so it confused me why he seemed so highly drunk all the time. When I confronted him about that he laughed at me. He waved away my question, saying it was more fun while being drunk. I briefly lifted my shoulders and all I could think was that it was his own choice. At least the rest of us had fun. After we had ventured in the Deep Roads for a few hours we came into a large room. The ceiling was immense high and across the room I saw a table. On the table was a book, or a journal as I could see ink placed next to it. We started to move towards the table when we heard a man making loud noises. He tried to scare us away, but this caused spiders to come our way. It seemed like he had woken them up by the loud noise he made. We saw the man running away into a tunnel and we now faced the spiders. They were huge! It still surprised me how large they could get and I was quite relieved when they were killed. Feonar came walking towards me and let out a little whine. I sat down in front of him and stroked his head.

"I know boy. I miss her too, but we have to do this first. Do you understand?" I whispered to the dog. Feonar barked which I took as a yes. I turned around and looked at the tunnel where the man went into. I slowly walked to the entrance and looked inside. The tunnel wasn't long and I could clearly see a room in the back. I walked in and noticed the man standing there, as if he was waiting for us. He turned around to look at us and almost wanted to make us leave right away.

"You don't have to worry." Wynne said. "We mean you no harm. What is your name?"

"I... I am Ruck! You have to leave. Yes.. Yes.." Wynne moved forward and kneeled down in front of the man.

"What happened to you? Don't you have family who are waiting for you?" Ruck turned away from Wynne and his head hang low.

"Mother.. Yes... Yes... You remind me of her. Kind Lady... NO! NO! I can't go back... tell her I'm dead."

"Dead? But Ruck, I am certain she would want to see you alive. You are alive! Do you want us to lie to your mother?"

"Yes, lie.. she's better of not knowing what happened!" It didn't take another word for Ruck to explain what had happened. I could see the despair in his eyes while he told us. The words barely entered my mind. Wynne nodded to Ruck and stood up. She walked towards me and I saw her talking.

"All right, Alistair?"

"All right what? Sorry, Wynne." I said as I was back in reality.

"Even though I'd hate to do it, we have to tell his mother her son is gone. She'll be better off. It's also too dangerous for someone to enter these tunnels. I nodded to Wynne and wished Ruck the best of luck. We walked back out of the tunnel and I was reminded of the book I noticed earlier. When we were close to the journal, I heard something coming out of the ceiling. I looked up and my eyes widened.

"Spiders!" I yelled while taking my sword and shield. I taunted them on me to protect the others and Wynne made sure to heal me. There was one spider which was harder than the others. Every time we had defeated the smaller spiders she would still be there. I suspected that it was some sort of a spider queen and my attacks were harder on her. She managed to block some of them and after making a lot of noise she jumped. She landed on Oghren, who immediately yelled to get it off. I kicked it off and thrusted my sword in the spider. The others backed up and slowly it died. The room was a mess. There was goo everywhere and the smell was even worse! At least of path to the journal was clear now, so we quickly walked to the book. Oghren recognized Branka's handswriting.

"She has absolutely been here, and this was most definately her. See how she tries to keep me away from searching her?" he said as he pointed to a paragraphe in the journal. The corners of my mouth went up a little and not to let Oghren notice I quickly walked further into the cave.

"Let's go and see what she's up to." I said. After a long walk and lots of Darkspawn we arrived in yet another small tunnel. This place was very easy to get lost in and yet we've managed to find our way. Oghren helped out a lot. He seemed to know the directions quite well. Halfway in this tunnel we heard whispering. After listening carefully we heard exactly what the whispering said and every time we came closer the whispering continued.

_"First day, they come and catch everyone._  
_Second day, they beat us and eat some for meat._  
_Third day, the men are gnawed on again._  
_Fourth day, we wait and fear for our fate._  
_Fifth day, they return and it's another girl's turn._  
_Sixth day, her screams we hear in our dreams._  
_Seventh day, she grew as in her mouth they spew._  
_Eighth day, we hated as she is violated._  
_Ninth day, she grins and devours her kin._  
_Now she does feast, as she's become the beast."_

When the chant restarted we stood in front of a Dwarven lady. I moved a bit closer to her.

"Who are you?" I quietly said. Slowly the Dwarf turned around and it shocked me a bit to see how she was looking. Her eyes were almost completely white.

"Humans? What are they up to now... I... am Hespith."

"My name is Alistair. We are looking for Branka, do you know where we can find her?" She turned around and began talking.

"Branka... my lover... she betrayed us! No no no no no.. Do not talk about Branka!" she yelled before running away. This wasn't very helpful. We barely received any information. Within a split second we walked after Hespith though she was too fast for us. She was out of sight, but she had led us to another room. It seemed like a dead end as the bridges were broken. Suddenly we heard talking. _I was her captain, and I did not stop her. Her lover, and I could not turn her. Forgive her... but no, she cannot be forgiven. Not for what she did. Not for what she has become._

"Lover?" Oghren wondered out loud. We moved further into the room and noticed an Ogre standing by the door. The second it spotted us it came running towards us. Shale didn't hesitate and ran to the ogre to take it down. A second ogre joined the fight from another door and I moved towards that one. Once Shale and Oghren were done with the first one they came helping me. With their help the ogre died quick and it let me go just in time. I saw the door the second ogre came through and decided to take a peak. It was dark and there was a statue in the middle of the room, and something in the back of the room. I moved in and walked to the back. It wasn't a statue, but a chest of some sort. I opened it and saw a key. Thinking we might be able to use it, I picked it up and put it in my pack. When we wanted to walk out of the room, dwarves spawned. These were not regular dwarves however, but ghosts.

"These do not look as squishy as it." Shale said. Our group backed up a little and finally charged in. To our surprise it seemed that they could be hit and defeated so we did exactly that. When they were "killed" they simply disappeared. I quickly walked towards the larger door where the first ogre was. I took the key as I had a haunch this would be needed to open it. I put the key in the lock and turned it. We could hear a few clicks and then the door opened. This was our passage to the other side. Bridges filled with Darkspawn lied on our paths and while we worked on getting to the other side, Hespith decided to talk to us even though we couldn't see her, and had no idea where she was.

_She became obsessed, that is the word but it is not strong enough. Blessed Stone, there was nothing left in her but the Anvil. We tried to escape, but they found us. They took us all, turned us. The men, they kill... they're merciful. But the women, they want. They want to touch, to mold, to change until you are filled with them. They took Laryn. They made her eat the others, our friends. She tore off her husband's face and drank his blood. _

The thought of Darkspawn taking these people and changing them was sickening. When we had crossed the bridges we faced another small tunnel. At the end we heard Hespith again. _And while she ate, she grew. She swelled and turned gray and she smelled like them. They remade her in their image. Then she made more of them. Broodmother..._ She barely finished the sentence or we saw the actual Broodmother standing in front of us. It was huge and very agressive! She spit at us and even though she couldn't move, I knew she had to die so our group moved in. I was right in front of the Broodmother while Wynne was standing on the stones. Oghren and Shale were right with me and Feonar stayed at Wynne to defend her. Tentacles would shoot out of the ground and while they couldn't hit Wynne and Feonar they certainly were very fond of me, Shale and Oghren. When more Darkspawn appeared Shale and Feonar made sure they didn't get to either Wynne or me. The Broodmother was dying and was filled with cuts which had pained her much. Despite her strength she couldn't help me jumping high enough to slice her throat.

Shale and Feonar got rid of the last part of the Darkspawn and the tentacles weren't moving anymore either.

"That was very strange." I could only say after the fight.

"I wonder if this what became of Branka." Oghren said. "I can't imagine it though, she's a tough one and doesn't get caught easily." Above the Broodmother was an edge where we could now see Hespith standing.

"That's where they come from. That's why they hate us... that's why they need us. That's why they take us... that's why they feed us. But the true abomination... is not that it occurred, but that it was allowed. Branka... my love... The Stone has punished me, dream friend. I am dying of something worse than death. Betrayal." I wanted to stop her, but she was already gone. There was nothing we could do to help her, only to give her a quick death. Deciding not to linger we moved on. At the end of the tunnel we could hear noises. Oghren moved faster, hoping it was Branka. When we moved in the room, the cave suddenly collapsed behind us. It had blocked our exit. There was no way out now. When I looked in front of me, I saw a female dwarf checking us out.

"Branka?" Oghren said. "By the Ancestors, you're alive!"

"Great, you have found me. Now you may return home, Oghren!"

~o~

- Eamon POV -

Any second now. They would arrive any second. I was in the study and paced back and forth. They shouldn't take this long. They couldn't risk to be seen by anyone, but they had to come here as fast as lightning itself. Isolde had already made sure that a section of the castle would be clear. The mage was doing his job while being supervised by the guards. Isolde came storming in with Teagan, deeply in discussion. I laughed to myself, knowing that Teagan didn't want to continue with this plan, but did have a crush on the young lady. Now was his chance and he still refused. The ignorance.

Finally, after waiting for what seemd hours, I heard noises. Guards were escorting the men in and the Warden was blindfolded. Without a word I guided them towards the room we had set up. The mage was in the same room, and the guards strapped the Warden on the bed. She seemed nervous. Who wouldn't be when you are being taken away and hold on a bed. One would think someone would actually be interested! She tried to escape the moment the guards wanted to put leather straps around her wrists, but luckily the mage saw what she was up to. When he pushed away the guard, he used his magic to force her against the bed.

She screamed and I started to laugh. She would forget which voices she had heard when the potion was taken. I walked to the mage and looked at what he was doing. The Warden was now tied on the bed, so she couldn't run away. The mage was putting some last ingredients in the potion and mixed them. The vial was now looking green of the potion within. He walked to the Warden.

"Remember, she will go for the first person she sees so make sure Teagan is here." I motioned for the guards to get Teagan as he was waiting outside with Isolde. He reluctantly came in though he had little choice. It was like he was a captive in his own house.

"Teagan, you will remove the band around her eyes and she will see you and fall for you. Enjoy." I said with a sarcastic tone in my voice. Everyone was now standing ready and the mage began to do his work. He was whispering his spell and put his free hand above the Warden.

"No! Stop it! What are you doing to me!" Nobody responded and the mage continued his work while the Warden trashed around. _Your heart will have a change of mind, when you see the first in your sight. Your heart will want him now instead, it is him you'll now love and adore. Your heart will want nobody else no more._ With this the mage put the potion in the mouth of the Warden. With a few left over drops he stroked her forehead and in between her breasts as a symbol for her heart. The green was thick and I hoped it would be gone soon. The Warden had stopped trashing around and a green glow consumed her. When it was gone the mage came to me.

"All right. I did it. You promised me to be free."

"Don't you know better than to trust someone who cannot be trusted?" Eamon laughed. "Guards! Put him in the cells!"

"What! No! I will..."

"Not use your magic if you value this Wardens life. After all, she did let you live didn't she?" and I started laughing again. I knew the mage had little with the Warden, but guilt is a powerful weapon. I moved out of the room, as did everyone else. Teagan was now the only one inside.

- Teagan POV -

Eamon closed the door behind him and left me standing in this room along with Aveline. She was still strapped on the bed. I hated what they had done to her. Why didn't I do anything! On the other side, what could I have done? I released the straps on her wrists and legs and I sat down next to her. She was sleeping and part of me wondered when she would wake. Another part was scared she would wake. What would she be like? Would the mage have done his job properly? Would she go for me? Would I let her go for me?

All these questions gave me a headache. I put my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. I sighed and closed my eyes. Maybe Alistair would come here to save her. After all, he loves her. Suddenly I heard Aveline making noises. She was waking and I removed the cloth that was still around her eyes.

"Where... am I?" she started.

"Don't worry." I whispered back. "You're in Redcliffe." She opened her eyes and looked me straight in my eyes.

"Oh, Teagan! It's you! I must look horrible." She said while a blush creeped on her cheeks.

"No you don't." I said with a little smile. "Listen, Aveline. Eamon, Isolde and the mage have done something to you. Whatever you're thinking of me, it's not real."

"Oh so you saved me from them?" Aveline sat up and threw her arms around me. I didn't know how to respond to that so my arms stayed where they were. "You're a wonderful man, Teagan. Did you know that?" she said. She looked so beautiful!

"Aveline, you're not listening. I'm not that wonderful."

"Oh but you are, my dear Teagan. You are so wonderful, that I actually think I love you!" Aveline stared at me and smiled. "Now Teagan, don't be shy." she said. Oh how I wanted this. How I wanted her to do this freely. Though she wasn't. Her face came closer to my own and her lips parted a bit. Those lips looked so very soft and so touchable. Her hands moved around my neck and I could feel her breasts touching my chest. Her eyes closed and I could feel her breath against my lips. My hands took her waist and I saw a smile on her face.


	18. Illusions

**My next chapter already! I'm going well today. I would like to give a little warning, this starts straight away with a sexual theme. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Do not hesitate to leave reviews :)**

- Teagan POV -

Aveline stopped right in front of me and slowly removed her armor and was now wearing only a small piece to cover her breasts. She retook my neck with her hands and pulled me close to her. She started to lie down on the bed and I was now on top of her. She gently removed my shirt and her hands traced my chest. So much went through my mind yet so little. I loved what she did to me, but I wasn't sure if I should continue. She turned me on, yet my mind told me that I should walk away. She removed her own pants underneath me and then started to work on mine. She gently touched my hardened piece and pulled me even closer to her so it was now touching her sensitive area.

"I..." She shut me up by kissing me and I let myself go in this kiss. It was deep and longing. I moved my hardened piece against her area and she moaned.

"Oh, Teagan!" she moaned. My mind went blank and I kissed her again. My hand traced her body and removed the last piece of clothes she was wearing. After that I tranced her body and cupped her breast. Her nipples were hardened and I started kissing her neck. I moved down and with my tongue I teased her nipple. Aveline's body arched in pleasure and I continued going down. She automatically opened her legs and my tongue moved to her sensitive area. It was stroking it and giving Aveline more pleasure as she almost gasped for air now. She moaned and started to shiver. I moved on top of Aveline again and let my fingers continue. I then moved a finger inside her. Another finger joined soon and I was stroking her before moving back to her sensitive area. Then she grasped me by my hair and pulled me close.

"I want you. Now." she only said. I moved my hardened piece to her area and teased her a little more. She put her legs around me and I moved inside her slowly. While I did Aveline put her head back even further in the pillow while giving another moan. I gently moved myself deep inside her and started to kiss Aveline again. I slowly started to rock back and forth and I concentrated on not finishing yet. It had been a while since I was with a woman so it took a bit more of me to not finish this straight away. My rocking became harder and Aveline loved every move of it. I recupped her breast and started to gently stroke it. Aveline moaned harder and I could feel she was finishing. When she released herself I did the same. With some long and hard thrusts I finished and fell limp on top of her.

"Oh... Aveline..." She stroke my hair with her fingers and remained quiet. "That was wonderful." I said. I got out of her and lied down next to her. She looked at me and smiled. She turned on her side and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"I agree." she said. I looked up to the ceiling and more thoughts started to come back to me. _She's under a spell. This wasn't real. The magic made her do this._ My eyes widened and I got up. _She's Alistair's_. I started pacing around and finally decided to get dressed again.

"What's wrong Teagan? You seem nervous? Do you want more?" she said in a very seductive tone.

"I... I'd love to, but I can't Aveline." I said while putting on my shirt. I searched for my shoes and put them on straight away when I found them.

"Maker, Alistair will kill me!" I continued.

"No he won't. I'll explain everything to him. Really, I do not understand why I haven't chosen you over him before. I mean, look at you!" I let out a hysterical giggle.

"He won't understand Aveline. To him you are still in a relationship with each other and he will see that you are forced to cheat on him with me. He won't forgive me. Maker! That man is going to be the King. What was I thinking!"

"You worry too much." Aveline started to get up and walked around the room naked. She now stood in front of me and showed of her body to me. "You can always have this, Teagan. I am yours." she continued. I shook my head. She pulled me down with her hands and whispered in my ear.

"Feeling you harden turns me on, Teagan. I want more." she said. "Come to my room this evening." She said it as if she didn't give me a choice. She touched me again and I immediately felt myself harden once more.

"I need to go. Get dressed." was all I managed to say. I quickly moved out of the room and closed the door behind me. I could only hope she would actually get dressed and come out properly. I moved to my own room and I took some cold water and threw it in my face. Not long after Eamon came walking in my room. I turned around and found him smiling at me.

"There, it wasn't that bad was it? If we're lucky, she will conceive as well." Eamon laughed. My eyes widened in shock. Eamon held up a hand so I wouldn't begin to talk.

"We could hear you from the hallway, Teagan. Well more Aveline than you, but still." he smiled. "You do seem able to please a woman, so that makes me wonder why you never had a wife. If all turns out well, we can marry you to Aveline and if she has a child on the way you do not need to worry about an heir anymore either."

"Stop it, Eamon. I highly regret what I just did."

"Be a man. Here, have a drink." Eamon said while he offered me a whiskey. I took it without looking and drank it in one go. I coughed immediately, noticing a strange taste from the drink.

"Eamon... what did you give me?" I said.

"Oh nothing much." he replied. "Really it was a whiskey. The mage just added something." Eamon started laughing again while he walked out of the room. I couldn't believe Eamon had just done that. I thought I had already seen him at the worst, but he certainly knew how to top that. I gazed at the glass, wondering what it was the mage had put in the drink. I took the glass with me and stormed outside. Aveline was just closing her door and smiled when she noticed me. She had put on a dress which showed incredibly much of her breasts. They were pushed up and she had decorated them with a lovely neckless. Her hair was up and looked simple yet gorgeous. I quickly looked back and continued to go to the cells. The mage would be there and I would ask him what it was the drink would let me do. I stormed towards the mage once I was down there and violently hit the bars of the cell.

"What was in this drink!" I demanded an answer from the mage. He looked shaken up by my tone and he took a step back. I opened the cell and I moved further towards him.

"Please tell me!" I was desperate now. "I must know what this makes me do to Aveline!" The mage held up his hands.

"All right. All right. Don't hurt me! I will tell you. It lowers your boundries dramatically! You'll do practically everything she asks in certain cases."

"Like raping her?" I said while I pushed the mage against the walls.

"Well, it won't be a rape. She asks it after all." he said while he held his hands in front of his face. Afraid that I would hit him.

"Dear Maker... You won't do anymore harm to us mage. If I release you from this cage, promise me you will _never_ come back here again!"

"Yes, Yes! I promise. I swear I will run and never come back! I'll probably even leave Ferelden!" I let him go and the mage carefully made his way past me. I walked out of the cells and thought about the consequences. I slowly walked back up again to the main halls. During dinner that evening, Aveline was still as charming as ever. She didn't remember what had been done to her and she certainly didn't remember that I told her Eamon and Isolde had been doing something to her. She was happily chatting with them both and making jokes. Eamon and Isolde played along and accepted Aveline in their family. They had convinced her that a Grey Warden life wasn't for her and if they would come looking for her, she should tell them they were better off without her. After all, she loved Teagan and wanted to build a life with him. Aveline touched my leg and moved towards it again. She caressed it for a second before putting her hand to rest on my leg. She started to lean on me and smiled. I tentatively smiled back at her.

"Can't we go to your room?" she whispered in my ear. "I can't wait anymore." she continued. I coughed and excused myself from the table. Not long after Aveline followed.

~o~

- Alistair POV -

We were standing in Caradins room where Branka was lying dead on the floor. She had been so very obsessed with the anvil that she gave us no choice. We had to turn against her in order for the anvil to be destroyed. It would only cause more harm than good. Oghren was broken by our actions, and the only thing we could do was let Oghren tell what it was he wanted from Caradin as, how strangly that might sound, a reward. He tried to get Branka revived by making her a golemn, but Caradin refused. A life like that wasn't a good life so Oghren decided to let Caradin make a crown. This would help us with chosing a king, as Orzammar was still in need of one. As Caradin was a Paragon himself, they would believe him when they saw the seal on the crown itself.

Caradin did as asked and went to work. He made the crown in no time and showed it to us. He held it up to give one final look at it and gave it to me. I had agreed in advance to destroy the anvil for Caradin and now was the time to do so. I walked towards the anvil and looked at it. Strange that something so regular was so special at the same time. It contained so much power. I took the hammer and smashed the anvil into more than a thousand pieces. Caradin nodded and walked towards the edge. There was lava flowing underneath us and he was going to throw himself in there.

"Thank you for doing as you promised, Warden." He wished us well, but didn't want to know who was the chosen king. He let hiimself drop from the edge into the lava and a part of me felt sad. He had his wish. The anvil was gone and Orzammar had its King soon. We both had our benefits, but he felt his life was over now. I looked at Oghren.

"I'm sorry about Branka."

"Arrg. It's all right. I knew she was crazy and all. Let's go up again shall we? I nodded and Oghren led the way out. He seemed to have payed more attention to the direction and it didn't take long before we were out. We quickly ran past the guards, who seemed surprised we were in such a hurry. The crown was shining in the light of Orzammar city and I could see people looking at it. A harrowmont suporter stopped us halfway and laughed.

"You are too late, Grey Warden! They are already choosing their King and Harrowmont is winning as we speak." I pushed the man aside and continued to run. When we arrived it turned out that the man was right for at least one thing. They had already started. Harrowmont accused Bhelen of several things, but when we came in everybody stopped talking. They all saw the crown we had with us and we were asked if we had anything to add. I told the man that we had a crown, made by a Paragon, for our chosen King. Oghren came in and told the man that he left us with the choice for the King. This caused a lot of disturbance in the room. Harrowmont didn't believe us, and said that we worked for Bhelen. The man ignored that comment and asked me who I thought should be King. I said we had chosen Bhelen to become the next King and he yelled in excitement.

Not a second after he received his crown, made by Paragon Caradin, he held his speech and condemned Harrowmont to death. I didn't care what he was doing to who as long as we would get our troops. As long as we could get out of here as soon as possible. As long as I could search Aveline as soon as possible. Bhelen promised us our troops when we were alone in his office. He was glad by the outcome and especially we had found another Paragon to help us. Achieving our goal, we walked out of his palace and a few minutes after we were standing in Orzammar city again.

"Let's get out of here. Maybe Zevran and Leliana have news." I walked to the exit of Orzammar again. Oghren had decided to come with us. He didn't want to stay around in Orzammar anymore after seeing Branka die. He had little to leave behind, so once we were outside it was final. He stood still and looked up in the air.

"Are you all right, Oghren?" I asked.

"Of course I am pike twirler! I just feel like the sodding sky is falling down on me. Let's go. We're burning.. how do you say it, daylight?" I smiled and walked further away from Orzammar. When we crossed the bridge we noticed two figures running up the hill. I stood still and looked carefully who they were. A man and a woman for sure.

"Wait... are that... Zevran and Leliana?" When they arrived at us they had to catch their breaths before talking.

"What have you found? Where is Aveline?"

"They have side tracked us, so we were moving in the wrong direction. It was so stupid that we fell for that agent trick!" Leliana said.

"Warden." Zevran continued. "We have reason to believe she is back at Redcliffe."

"The tracks we found when we ran back were heading in that direction. We thought it would be better to notify you so we could all go there at once, instead of sending a messenger and wait." Leliana said.

"What is she doing in Redcliffe? Did she escape from the persons who took her?"

"That might be, Warden." Zevran said. "Aveline is quite clever, it would not surprise me."

"I hope she's all right. I hope they didn't do anything to her! Maker I couldn't forgive myself if anything did happen to her." I said. I looked to the ground and the worst thoughts started to form in my head.

"Don't do this, Alistair. Maybe she is all right and nothing has happened. She might have killed the persons who took her. She's a tough woman, you know that." Leliana said to comfort me.

"I suppose. We will go to Redcliffe before heading to the Dalish though. And before we leave, can someone plese look where Morrigan went. Even though my desire to leave her here is great, we can use her magic good." Zevran laughed at my remark and Oghren looked confused.

"Oh don't worry." I told Oghren. "You'll get to meet her soon. She's a very enjoyable person." He snorted and laughed.

"Asschabs! Can't wait." When Morrigan joined us again we started our journey towards Redcliffe. I hoped that Aveline would be there, and most of all that she would be all right. The weather was the only thing that could slow us down.


	19. Consequences

**I'm on the move lately! My next chapter is finished and hopefully you'll appreciate it. I have to give out yet another warning for the beginning again (M rating), other than that; enjoy reading!**

- Teagan POV -

More than a week had passed and Aveline was still as she was the first night they had been together. She longed me every moment of the day and I did as she commanded every time she wanted to do it. It was raining today and it looked very boring. Eamon was busy in his study and Isolde was doing, whatever it was she was doing. I couldn't care less about them anymore. The servants had accepted Aveline within our household and looked after her as they did with us. I was standing outside and let the rain fall on me when Aveline joined me. She was dressed in another gorgeous dress. It was green and showed a lot. Though that was usual for her the last few days.

"What are you doing outside, my love?" she said.

"Nothing, just standing." I replied. I turned around to face her and carefully touched her hair. It was soft and even though the rain caused it to be wet, she stayed as beautiful as ever.

"You know... I know something much more exciting than just standing in the rain." she said while opening my pants. She guided me to the back of the garden en pushed me against a stone wall. She removed my shirt, which tended to stick on my body due to the rain. After she had removed my shirt, she started on my pants and pulled them down as far as she could. She started kissing me deeply and I kissed her back with all the passion I had. I moved my hand into her dress and removed a breast so it was showing. I did it with the other one as well and moved her to the grass. I lied her down on it and moved on top of her, kissing her nipples. My hands moved down underneath her dress and searched her sensitive area. She was already extremely wet and ready though I decided to give her more pleasure. My fingers traced her button and a couple went inside her before moving back to her button again. She moaned and I removed the smallclothes she had on. I tossed them aside and pushed the dress up so the way was free. She spread her legs and I moved on top of her. While kissing Aveline I slowly pushed myself inside her, causing her to moan. It started to thunder now and the rain fell down even faster. I thrusted back and forth and Aveline put her legs around me.

"Harder." Aveline moaned. "Harder". I did as she asked and moved harder. This was more rough than most of the times we were together. Aveline started to finish and as I loved to finish with her, I started doing the same. I gave her another kiss before I moved out of her.

"I love you, Teagan." she said. She gave me a small kiss before I stood up and I gave her her smallclothes. Even though they were quite wet due to the rain she put them on, as did I with my shirt. We started to move back inside when Aveline stopped. She looked in front of her and said nothing.

"Are you all right, Aveline? I didn't hurt you, did I? I asked. She slowly shook her head and her eyes traced the garden. Not a moment longer she ran to the place she spotted and started to throw up.

"Oh Maker, Aveline! I knew we shouldn't have done it outside. You'll get ill. Let's go inside." Without a word Aveline followed me inside. I made sure the servants would prepare a nice hot bath for her. Eamon and Isolde came walking out of the study together and looked at us.

"What have you been doing?" Isolde said. "You're both soaking wet!"

"We obviously were outside, Isolde." I replied. She didn't need to know the nature of us being outside in the first place. Suddenly I felt Aveline falling over and when I looked I saw she was passing out. I was able to catch her just in time and put her on the ground.

"Aveline! Aveline? Wake up." I said while I touched her face.

"Has this happened before?" Eamon asked.

"No of course not, Eamon! She was only sick outside just now, that's why I brought her in for a bath."

"When she wakes up, stay with her when she takes the bath." I nodded, but kept my eyes on Aveline. I carried her to one of the sofa's and put her down on one.

"You might want to pay a visit to the Tower, Teagan." Eamon said. "They can tell her if something is wrong."

"Do you think she's ill?" I asked. I started to worry. "Maybe this is a side effect of what you've done." Eamon started laughing.

"I barely consider that an option, Teagan. Just... bring her to the Tower when she wakes." Minutes later Aveline slowly began to open her eyes and smiled when she saw me.

"I'm sorry." she said.

"Don't be. You got us all worried there though. Let's get you to that nice warm bath shall we? I'll stay with you. After that I will bring you to the Tower so they can check you up if something is wrong all right?" She nodded and I helped her up. Slowly we moved to her room where the servants had the bath ready. I helped her undress and guided her into the tub. I took a chair and sat down next to her.

"We'll pay a visit to the Tower so they can see if something is wrong, all right?" I gently asked her. She nodded and looked at me.

"Do you wish to leave to the Tower after we're done here?" she asked. I smiled.

"Yes, I think that would be best. If something is wrong, at least we'll know in time so we can do something about it."

"I'm nervous, Teagan. What could possibly be wrong!" she said while she washed herself. "Maybe it's the taint! I am still a Grey Warden of course. Maybe something went wrong in the Joining after all and I'm facing the effects of that now!" she was looking straight forward. Thinking to herself. I sat on my knees next to her and pushed the chair away.

"Aveline. Don't worry so much. Maybe it's nothing major. We're just going there to check all right?" I said while my fingers traced her cheeks.

"Yes." she looked and me and smiled. "Maybe you're right. I won't worry so much." she took my hand and kissed it before continueing washing herself. I looked out the window. It was still raining outside and I sincerely hoped that it wouldn't make her more ill, if she even was ill at all. I stood up and moved to the hallway where I motioned for a servant. The man came running to me and I told him to prepare two horses for the journey straight away. The man nodded and I went back in the room where Aveline climbed out of the tub. I walked towards her, but she motioned that she didn't need any help.

"I'm feeling better again, Teagan. Thank you." She said while she was drying herself with a towel. I walked towards the cabinet and wanted to take out her armor.

"Oh no. I'm not wearing that thing. I'll wear a dress. I won't even be needing the armor." she said with a smile. I nodded and let Aveline finish. I gave her a kiss and walked out of her room to pack my things.

- Alistair POV -

Redcliffe was in sight. Finally I would be able to see if Aveline was here. Something I sincerely hoped. I had missed her very much and couldn't wait to embrace her. Nobody questioned me when I rushed towards Redcliffe Castle. The weather has been bad, and I had been looking forward to a hot bath with Aveline at my side. It had been raining for a few days now and I was grateful that I finally had shelter in the castle. We walked inside and moved to the main hall. Feonar was right at my side, wanting to see Aveline as badly as I did.

"Arl Eamon? Bann Teagan?" I said out loud. We didn't have to wait long before we saw Arl Eamon coming our way.

"Alistair! How good to see you. Do you have your army ready?" he said.

"No, we still need to go to the Dalish. Is Aveline here?" I asked impatiently.

"She was here, yes. She is now on her way to the Circle Tower with Teagan though. Why?" I got confused. Did I need a reason to look my fellow Grey Warden? There was a blight to fight!

"She is a Grey Warden, Arl Eamon. Plus she has been taken away during our stay in Orzammar."

"Really? She hasn't told us anything about that." Arl Eamon said surprised. "She just came walking in here a few weeks ago and asked if she could stay, so we let her. We assumed she had discussed it with you at least."

"So she might have been able to break free of those people." Leliana said.

"When did she leave for the Circle Tower?" Zevran asked.

"Two days ago."

"Then we might still be able to catch up with them." I said. "I'm sorry guys, but if Arl Eamon is generous we might be able to each take a bath, but keep it short. I want to leave within two hours to find Aveline again." I looked at Arl Eamon and he sent servants to show us the way to our rooms. More servants were already working on the hot water the moment they heard the word bath. I walked in the room I had been given and noticed it smelled familiar. Feonar came running in the room and his eyes soon fell on something small which was placed or fallen on the floor. He ran towards it and started whining. I moved towards the bed and sat on my knees while picking it up. It was a vial, and it had green traces on it. I held it up in the light, but it didn't change much. I decided to keep this, as something didn't feel quite right. Feonar started sniffing the bed and looked at me.

"She's been here, hasn't she boy?" I said to Feonar. He looked worried, as was I after finding the vial. Feonar barked and he jumped on the cabinet. I opened it and noticed the armor. Carefully, I picked it up and my eyes widened, realizing this was Aveline her armor. I put the armor in my pack and I quickly walked to the hallway and went to Zevran's room. I knocked on the door and when he opened it I stormed in. He had partly undressed already and was surprised to see me and Feonar standing in his room.

"Well well, Alistair. I did not know you were in to men as well. I am not prepared for you yet! Let me undress more." Zevran said.

"No! No... Please don't." I started "I need you to look at something." I continued.

"Of course, my dear Alistair. Pull it down and I'll give you my opinion."

"Not that! Stop it! I'm serious!" I replied while I gave Zevran the vial we just found. "What's this?" I asked Zevran. Zevran took the vial and held it in front of the fire. He smelled at it and his smile faded.

"Alistair, where did you find this?"

"In the room Arl Eamon gave me. We suspect that Aveline has stayed there as well. Feonar found it near the bed. Feonar also found Aveline her armor!" I said.

"Why would she leave her armor?" he questioned to himself. "Alistair, this is a potion and I think it's been given to Aveline." I didn't know what to say on that. Had they done something to Aveline?

"What's... it for?" Zevran checked the hallway to see if nobody was outside, listening. He closed the door and looked at me.

"If I am correct, this is used to make someone fall in love to the first person they see."

"What? But that doesn't make sense. Why would they give it to Aveline? She already loves me and I her."

"I'm not sure, but maybe someone wants her out of their way. Maybe someone doesn't want her at your side. Anyway, this couldn't be prepared or used without a mage."

"That is crazy. Maybe Eamon knows more. They did have that mage in the cells when we left last time." I said while I started to walk out the door.

"Alistair. If we want to find out what has happened, and still continue with our landsmeet plans, we will have to play coy with everyone."

"So you don't want to ask around, just let things go as they're going?"

"We will find Aveline and Teagan at the Circle Tower and confront them there. I'll go see what I can do for Aveline if she really has been forced to take the potion." I nodded to Zevran and thanked him. I went to my room and decided to quickly wash myself before leaving Redcliffe. When I was finished I moved to Arl Eamon's study. He was working at his desk and I closed the door behind me. Remembering what Zevran said, hadn't changed my mind on asking about the reason why they left for the Circle Tower.

"Arl Eamon, I have to ask. Why did they go to the Cirle Tower?"

"Hmm that's a good one. Teagan took Aveline to the Tower as she wasn't feeling well."

"She's ill? How did that happen?"

"I'm not sure, Alistair. All I know is that Aveline looked a little weak to me and that Teagan would take her there as he didn't want her to go alone."

"That makes sense I suppose. Why didn't she take her armor though?"

"Maybe she found a dress more comfortable, Alistair." Eamon said. I sighed.

"All right. We must leave, thank you Arl Eamon." I said while I walked out of his study and went to the main hall. Everyone was standing ready and Feonar came running towards me.

"Don't worry boy. We'll catch up with them and find out what has happened." I looked at Zevran and he nodded. Shale, Leliana, Morrigan and Wynne were already waiting outside while the rest were in the main hall. We moved out and joined the others and started looking for Aveline. Hoping that we would find her fast.

~o~

- Eamon POV -

He walked out of the study and talked the the dog. Which sane person talks to a dog. On the other side, Maric wasn't completely sane either and he was a King as well. The boy had followed the footsteps of his father without actually knowing this. My eyes found the elf. He was actually treated as a normal person. An Elf was a servant. Nothing more. They were here to help yet here he was, nodding at Alistair like he was his equal. Isolde quietly walked in the study and stood next to me.

"You know, Isolde. Our plan might be going to the right direction." I whispered. I continued to look how Alistair and his companions moved out of the castle.

"There is nothing _wrong_ with Aveline is there, husband." I shook my head in response and started laughing. We had them right where we wanted and things were looking good.

"He is going to be King, Isolde. And if he gets daughters, which I'm sure he will now that Aveline is removed, she can marry our boy." I said while I put my hand on Isolde's well covered growing belly. I stood up and started kissing Isolde. "No matter what they've done for us, we're doing what's best. He will see that eventually." I continued.

"One can only hope now, my husband." she replied.

"You have done well to produce our little miracle." I whispered in her ear. She smiled at me and I could see her blush a little. I kissed her once more and sent her out of the study.


	20. A Painful Occurance

**I hoped you liked my previous chapters! The next chapter is already here and I hope you will also like this one. Tum Tum Tum for the excitement!**

- Teagan POV -

We decided to set camp for the evening as the horses were getting tired. They weren't the best horses of the stable, but these were the best option as the rest had been trained that day. Aveline sat in front of the fire I just made and I sat next to her. We had been on the road for a while and we were probably halfway now. Aveline just stared to the fire and remained quiet. Suddenly her head shot up.

"I feel... something." she said. "It feels like it is coming closer." I looked around, but noticed I couldn't see anything. It wasn't fully dark yet, though I couldn't see anything strange.

"Is it Darkspawn?" I asked.

"No.. I think it's another Grey Warden. Hey!" she said while she laughed at me. "Maybe it's Alistair!"

- Alistair POV -

We had been on the road for a long time, but we were moving fast. It felt right to move as fast as we did and our efforts seemed to have payed off. I stared into the distance while I asked the others to wait behind me. I felt the familiar tugging inside and it could only mean one thing. This was another Grey Warden. This was Aveline! My eyes lit up and a smile crossed my face. Zevran noticed this as he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Alistair, do not forget that she might be under the influence of the potion I told you about." I nodded to Zevran and started to move while I started to explain myself to the others.

"Guys, we have found Aveline. I feel her, and I can see a light in the distance there." I said while pointing in the direction I meant. I started running and I could feel Aveline coming closer. When I was close enough I could see two figures sitting at the fire. The others were right behind me and I kept on running to Aveline. No matter how far I had to run I would cross the ocean if it would make her happy. I ran into camp and saw Teagan and Aveline. They stood up the moment they saw us and Aveline smiled. At least she recognized me. I slowly walked in her direction.

"Alistair!" she said. She had a large smile on her face. She walked to me and hugged me. Before I had the chance to kiss her she moved away again and continued talking.

"How good that you're here! We meant to talk to you anyway!" She said while she stood close to Teagan. She took his hand and my eyes went to Teagan.

"What's... going on here?" I asked. Zevran stood next to me and I felt his presence. I remembered what he told me in Redcliffe. It remained quiet. In the meantime, Feonar ran to Aveline and she embraced the dog.

"We found your armor in Redcliffe, Aveline." I continued. "Maybe you should put it on so we can continue getting our army for the blight. Orzammar is in, but we still need to find the Dalish."

"What are you talking about silly? I am most certainly not going to put on that armor. I have not been feeling well and a dress suits me so much better. We're going to the Tower to see if something is wrong with me. We really need to go and see."

"You're a Grey Warden, Aveline. You've got your duties!" I said, still not fully understanding what was going on.

"No, I quit Alistair. I am in love." she said happily.

"Yes, I know. I love you too my dear, but you really need to come with us." Aveline looked shocked and she now looked at Teagan. I followed and Teagan was standing very uncomfortable.

"Teagan, do you know more of this? Has she really taken the potion?" I asked while I tossed the empty vial I found towards him. It ended on the floor and Teagan sat back down again with his face buried in his hands.

"Oh Alistair, how am I going to tell you this?"

"How about you simply talk!" I demanded.

"Dear Maker... Yes she has taken the potion. Though she was forced by Eamon and Isolde, so none of this is her fault. Please trust me on this." he pleeded. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I was the first person she saw, so the potion caused her falling in love in me." Teagan continued. I shook my head.

"Why would he be doing this! Why were _you _there in the first place!" I shouted. Zevran tried to calm me down, but it was no use. "He knows I love her! He knows I would do anything for her!" More thoughts came up in my mind.

"How far did you make her go, Teagan?" I said while I closed in on him.

"Oh Maker." Teagan said while he stood up. He seemed scared of my reaction, which gave me even more satisfaction. His answer however, predicted little good.

"You have to understand that Eamon has put a potion in my drink as well, Alistair. It caused me to do anything she wanted in certain situations..." he held his hands up, as if he was innocent.

"That doesn't answer my question, Teagan! How far did you make her go! Did you sleep with her?" I yelled. There was so much anger coming up now.

"Alistair." Aveline said while she stood in front of Teagan. "I love Teagan. Please don't hurt him. Please don't." she begged. It was so hard to be angry at her as well. Even though I knew this was caused by a potion, he had her body. He had her love. I felt tears coming up my eyes when I heard her words. My hands turned into fists and I continued to move to Teagan. Aveline moved out of the way, not wanting to be hurt.

"Answer my question, Teagan!" I threatened.

"I... Yes, Alistair. But I'm so very sorry!" he said. This was the trigger, something snapped inside of me and I charged at Teagan and punched him in the face. He fell on the ground and I stood above him.

"How long?" I whispered.

"You have to believe me! I didn't mean to...!" Teagan said while he felt the area where I just hit him.

"How long has this been going on!"

"A few... weeks." Teagan said very soft.

"How is it that you just let this be Teagan!" I yelled! I sat on top of him and punched him in the face again. Aveline had started to cry in despair. Something she had never done before. She was so not herself, but it didn't release me from my anger.

"You needed a mage to perform all of this!" I said with the next punch.

"Why didn't you get an anti-dote as well!" I continued while I gave him yet another punch. Zevran now pulled me away from Teagan and Shale helped him so I would remain away from Teagan. He had been punished enough for now. Tears flowed down from Teagan's eyes, but he remained calm.

"I... I sent the mage away after I found out that Eamon put something in my drink. I was so... angry, Alistair. I wasn't thinking straight. When we would arrive at the Tower I would ask them about this!"

"You're not thinking at all! I'll kill you for what you've done. Along with your brother and his evil wife." I said. I was whispering again, but it didn't sound less dangerous. Next to me I saw Wynne motioning to Aveline to come to her. She did as Wynne asked and embraced her. She released more tears on her shoulder.

"Zevran, how far are you with the anti-dote?"

"It is nearly finished. Morrigan and Wynne need to give it to her though as it involves their magic as well." I nodded.

"Teagan, I will find you later. This is not over yet. For now, make sure you will leave to the Tower to get your own anti-dote. Aveline is coming with us." I said while I pushed Shale and Zevran off me as they were still holding me.

"No! No.. please. Let me say farewell to Teagan at the very least." Aveline begged.

"Make sure she comes with us." I told the others as I started to walk into the direction of the Dalish. When we were away from Teagan, we would set up our own camp and Wynne and Morrigan could examine Aveline and free her of the effects of the potion. Wynne performed a sleeping spell on Aveline and she collapsed. Zevran caught her and let Shale carry her for this part of the journey. I heard Zevran talking to Teagan before he caught up with us again.

"He promised not to let Eamon know that we have found out what they've done. This way we have an advantage for the landsmeet as he thinks he still got you in his pocket." Zevran said. I remained quiet. I was still too angry to say anything proper. I was glad we had found Aveline, though my heart was broken by what had happened. _She slept with Teagan. She loves Teagan. They've been sleeping with each other for more than a week._ A few hours later it was completely dark. Morrigan, Oghren and Shale had set up camp and Aveline was put in the largest tent. Zevran had the anti-dote ready and he gave it to Wynne. The mages finished preparing and Wynne walked to me.

"Alistair, we're going to get her back to normal again." I faced Wynne. My eyes were red of the tears that were flowing out of them. I nodded to Wynne. Unable to say anything in return.

"You have to know that she will remember. She'll know what happened. I'll examine her all over to see if she's really ill as well, all right?" Once again I nodded and Wynne walked to the tent where they had placed Aveline.

- Wynne POV -

Once I was in the tent I sat down next to Aveline. Morrigan was sitting on her other side. I had already warned her about everything so we began our ritual. Aveline was still sleeping which made things more easy. I opened the vial with the anti-dote Zevran gave me and Morrigan used her magic to do her part. The blue liquid in the vial lit up and I opened Aveline's mouth to poor it in. The leftover drops I put on her head and her chest. The moment I was done with that, she was covered in blue light. When that faded I knew the ritual had worked. She should be her old self again. I thanked Morrigan for her help and asked her to leave. I would examine Aveline now and there was no reason for anyone else to be there. I put my hand on her forehead and let the magic flow through my fingers. I slowly moved down her body and made an internal note that everything was all right. Until the very moment I was at her stomach. I had closed my eyes to concentrate, but this was too obvious. I opened my eyes and looked at Aveline.

"Oh dear girl..." I used more magic to confirm my thoughts and put a blanket over her. She was resting so peaceful. I walked out of her tent, careful not to wake her up early. Alistair saw me and practically ran towards me.

"How is she!" he said. "Morrigan told me the ritual had worked and that she should be her old self again." I motioned for him to talk softer and made him follow me to a more private area. Once there, he carefully took my shoulders and looked me in my eyes.

"What is wrong? Is something up? Is she all right? Has she woken? Is she ill?" Alistair said.

"Calm down." I told him. "Aveline is not ill. She is all right and she has not woken up yet. You should let her sleep until she does though." Alistair nodded and waited for more information.

"There is something I should tell you though."

"Oh I knew it. Something is wrong isn't it." Alistair said. He was so scared for her and it pained me I had to tell him this.

"Alistair... Aveline is with child." His eyes widened and his mouth opened to speak though nothing came out. He let himself fall on the ground and just sat there. He didn't know what do say. I decided to leave so Alistair could think. The poor young man's heart had been broken once already. This news would be difficult to swallow.

- Alistair POV -

I just sat there. Speachless. She was pregnant with Teagan his child. My whole world seemed to fall apart. I could never forgive Eamon and Isolde for what they had done. I didn't think I could forgive Teagan for what he had done either. He could have searched for another mage earlier. He could have left to the Tower straight away. But he didn't. He stayed. He stayed with Eamon and Isolde to perform their conniving plan. I screamed as loud as I could while my pain consumed me. Finally, after what seemed ages, I fell asleep. I slept outside on the grass where I ended up when Wynne told me the news.

The night was too short as the sun came up and was shining in my face. It didn't seem proper for the sun to shine. I slowly came back to reality, where I was still on the grass in camp. I slowly sat up and watched the sun. I realized that someone had put a blanket over me and I suspected Wynne for that. We should make arrangements to get moving again. I should prepare to talk to Aveline. I still loved her and would still do anything for her. She could wake up any second and realize what happened. I shook my head. Not yet. I don't want to think about this yet. Wynne was going to talk to Aveline first if she would be awake. That would give me time to clear up my thoughts.

I stood up and decided to look for some food to begin with. I didn't care if I would catch anything or not, but just walking through the woods was nice. I had the blanket wrapped around me as the temperature wasn't very comfortable yet. Deciding this would not help at all I slowly paced back to camp. The fire was still burning a little and Leliana seemed to be awake and seemed to make breakfast. When I arrived she looked up and smiled at me. I sat down near the fire and stared in it. It was quiet and Leliana was stirring in the pot above the fire. She started to sing a little song, very quietly. I appreciated what she was trying to do. Wynne got up from her tent and walked to me.

"How did you sleep?" she asked.

"It wasn't one of my best nights, but other than that quite good I think." She rubbed on my back and stood up again. I looked where she was heading and she went into Aveline her tent. When she opened the flap I could see Aveline sitting down. She had a horrible look on her face and she was on the edge of crying. I could tell from here that what happened was tearing her apart. It wasn't right for me to sit here near the fire and let her sit in her own grief. She was not to blame for this, no matter how hard everything fell on me. I looked at Leliana and she motioned to Aveline's tent. I removed the blanket from my shoulders and put them aside. I stood up and I turned around to face Aveline her tent. Wynne was still in there as well, probably telling the news. Suddenly I heard Aveline scream and the sound tore me apart even more. I had to go there. Quickly I walked to Aveline her tent and Wynne stepped out.

"She needs you now more than ever, Alistair." she said while she walked away to Leliana. I opened the flap and saw Aveline. She was lying on the bedroll and I moved to her. I removed my chest armor and lied down next to her and embraced her. I pulled her close. I couldn't keep her safe before, but I would try harder to do so from now on.


	21. Revelations

**It is time to view things with Aveline's POV again!**

**Chapter 21: Revelations**

- Aveline POV -

I was still in my tent with Alistair. He was holding me really tight and I stared at his chest. He had removed his chest armor so I could hold me like this. My eyes felt like they were squished after hearing the news Wynne added. I didn't forget what I had done. I didn't forget what Teagan had done either. How Isolde and Eamon were so kind and understanding while I was there. How they nearly got me to leave the Wardens and my duty. How they almost succeeded in their plan. I hoped that Alistair would still want me. I felt dirty and I wanted to take a bath really bad. I wanted to wash everything off me. I wanted to wash the child out of me. I squeezed my eyes together at the thought. I was bearing Teagan his child, while it should have been Alistair's. I guess I was moving, because Alistair touched my face with his hands. I didn't dare to look him in the eyes after what happened.

"Aveline," he whispered "Look at me please." Slowly I moved my head so I was facing him. He looked calm and understanding. He gave me a kiss on my forehead which caused tears to form in my eyes again.

"Oh, my love." he whispered. "Everything will be all right. I will make sure Eamon and Isolde will be punished. I'm not quite sure what to do with Teagan, but for now he's on my punishlist as well." I nodded and remained silent. I kept staring him in his eyes. They were beautiful, even though I saw the pain in them.

"Aveline, sweetheart. Can you tell me how you ended up in Redcliffe?" I cleared my throat and stared back at his chest again.

"When we were in Orzammar, you remember.. the man who asked to speak to me in private, right?" Alistair nodded.

"There was another man inside and they drugged me so they could take me away easily. When I woke up, we were in a wagon, on the way to Redcliffe. They had me blindfolded, so I didn't know where I was heading until we had arrived. When we were there, they guided me to a room. I could hear Eamon talk and Isolde and Teagan. The mage we had spoken to in the cells was there as well."

"So they lied to me. They said you arrived there, asking if you could stay." I looked back at Alistair and shook my head.

"The mage performed some kind of ritual with some potion and he poured it into me and forced me to drink it. They had me tied to the bed. I tried to escape, I really did." I said. My voice became raspy.

"I know, love. I know." he simply said.

"I felt the magic flowing through my veins and it felt like something was wrong. I felt desire. Not for a moment, but all the time. Next thing I knew Eamon told Teagan to have fun, and the door closed. Teagan removed the piece of cloth that they had bound around my eyes, so I couldn't see anything, and I immediately thought I fell in love with Teagan and with the desire I kept feeling I..." I stopped there. Alistair didn't need to hear this. He already knew. I closed my eyes again, wishing everything better with just a thought.

"Don't worry, dear. Do you know anything though about Teagan's potion?" I moved to sit up. I thought back and could not think of anything. I shook my head.

"No. I mean, after ... he said he made a mistake and walked out the room. Who knows what happened? Eamon could have put it in anything he drank before or after that." Alistair rolled on his back and looked to the ceiling of the tent. Finally he sat up and moved in front of me. He shot a look at my stomach and I immediately felt horrible again. I crossed my arms over it and looked to the ground.

"You don't have to do that, Ave. I... hate what Teagan has left you with, but you are not to blame. I... promise I will stay with you when you give birth to this child."

"But I'm left with something I only wished to have with the one I truly love. You..." I said while I kept staring at the ground. He took my head in his hands and made me look at him.

"Aveline. We'll raise it together. Maybe we have a child of our own one day as well. I love you! I loved you from the moment I first layed eyes on you and I shall support you through thick and thin. I'm furious at Teagan yes, but we'll get through this all right?"

"Maker, I nearly put down my duties as a Grey Warden, Alistair!" I said as that memory floated up. He started laughing.

"Well, you do have to be more careful now. Imagine how much you'll be eating from now on!"

"I didn't eat that much in the first place to begin with!" I said, faking a shock on my face.

"No? You could have fooled me." he said with a wink.

"Hey, I am not a pig, my love." I said with a smile.

"Not ye..."

"Don't you dare!" I laughed. Alistair closed in on me and without a word he started kissing me. I had missed his kisses and I was more than willing to kiss him back. His arms moved around my waist and he pushed me close against him. He broke the kiss off and he put his forehead against mine.

"I.. ehm... do need to let it all sink in, Aveline."

"Of course." I said.

"You... really don't love Teagan, right? I mean, the potion has stopped working?"

"Maker, no Alistair! I don't love him and I never have!"

"It's nothing negative towards you. You have to trust me on that, love. It's just that... Teagan crossed the line with you because of Eamon and Isolde."

"I understand." I whispered. Alistair looked up and seemed glad with my answer. Alistair moved to the corner of the tent and picked something up. When he turned to me I noticed it was my armor.

"This might be usefull." I smiled and thanked Alistair. Wearing armor was better than a dress, especially when having to fight. "Not that the dress doesn't suit you, but you know..." I nodded and changed into my armor while Alistair moved outside again. I moved outside as well and my eyes searched the nearest pond. I told everyone I was going to bathe so they knew where I would be. I undressed myself at the pond and walked in the water. I untied my hair and it fell down on my shoulders. I couldn't help the tears that immediately treathened to come of my eyes again. Alistair was so kind and understanding while I had done the most horrible thing a loved one could ever do. I had betrayed him, even though it was against my will, it felt like I could have done something about it. My thoughts went to the tiny child that was growing inside of me. A part of me hoped sincerely that Wynne was wrong and this was all a mistake, though another part wished it was true. A Grey Warden couldn't get a child easily and I was blessed with one, even though it was with the wrong person. I knew two Wardens would have even more trouble getting one of their own, so a part of me was grateful. It was a natural course that my thoughts moved on to Teagan. Alistair had beaten Teagan, and he was well in his right when he did that. Teagan was, however, the father of this child. Would he want to see it? Would he want to raise it? Would he want to be part of it? For all those questions, my mind told me that he would. He would want to name it. He would want it to be his heir. My hand coursed over my belly, tracing imaginary lines all over it. I looked up and noticed there barely was a cloud in the sky.

With the ribbon still in my hand I dived under water. I opened my eyes and noticed it was quite clear. I started swimming a bit and quickly came up again. When I looked at the direction where my clothes were, I saw Alistair sitting again. This time he was eating his breakfast while looking at me. I smiled to him and he smiled back.

- Alistair POV -

I walked to the pond and found Aveline. She was standing in the water and it was obvious she was sad and thinking of something. I saw her hands tracing her belly and couldn't help feeling jealous. This child should have been mine. I shook my head and corrected myself. This was not her fault, no matter how hard it was on me I had to support her. Getting a child was considered a miracle for any Grey Warden. I kept looking and Aveline and thought about what could happen. When I would be made King, she could stay with me. She could me my Queen and we could try to get children of our own. I smiled at the idea and I sat down to keep looking at her. I ate once in a while, but she had the most of my attention. She dived down and when she stayed under water for a while, she got me worried. I searched for ripples in the pond, and suddenly she came up again. While she did so, her body rose just enough above the water to make me smile. I should pinch myself for that thought I remembered thinking. Not a moment later she turned my way and looked at me. She seemed surprised at first when she saw me watching her, but then she smiled. I smiled back at her and continued to eat my came swimming towards me and floated in the water.

"Breakfast is ready." I said while I continued eating.

"I can see that." She shot a look at camp, but I was far away enough. With grace she moved out of the water and put her armor back on again. I smiled when she sat next to me.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're just very beautiful."I said. She started to smile and looked in front of her. We sat like that for fiftheen minutes until she started to get hungry and moved to camp. She dragged me with her and I sat down near the fire while she took her breakfast and started talking with Leliana. Wynne sat next to me and looked at me. When I noticed she was doing that I stared at her.

"Hello Wynne."

"How is she doing?" I looked at Aveline again and frowned.

"I suppose a bit better. Though I think she's not fully telling how horrible she feels."

"You can't blame her for that. She has unwillingly been with another man."

"You needn't remind me." I said while my eyes moved to the fire.

"Alistair, have you said how _you _feel to her?" I nodded. "Then you will only need time. If you really love her so much, that's all that's needed."

"It sounds so easy."

"And yet it's all but easy. What are you going to do when the child is born?"

"I will be there for her." I sighed. "I'll raise it as my own and I'll continue to support Aveline." Wynne nodded and smiled while she put her hand on my shoulder before standing up and packing her things. Everybody started to get their things to get moving so I did the same. When Aveline was finished she motioned to all to get moving. It surprised me that we was taking lead again after all what happened. Then again, maybe she wanted distraction. I ran to her and started walking next to her.

"Oh I'm sorry!" she said. "I'm used to make sure everyone follows me. You've taken over while I was gone, so ... if you want to continue...?"

"Don't worry, Aveline." I laughed. "Yes I took over, but you're more than welcome to re-take what you're good at."

"So, how did Orzammar go?"

"We eventually had to find Paragon Branka, Oghren's wife. We also had to kill her when we arrived at Paragon Caradin who made a crown so we could make Bhelen king."

"Oh... That must have been tough." she replied. I nodded. Suddenly we all heard a damp noise and looked back. I saw Aveline running over already and when I looked where she was heading I could see Wynne on the ground.

"Wynne!" Aveline yelled. When she arrived Wynne was already waking up. In the meantime I was near Wynne as well.

"Oh... I fell." Wynne said.

"Yes, I could see that." Aveline said seriously. She and I helped Wynne up.

"This is no time to talk. I will explain myself later." Wynne shoo'd us away and I moved forward again. Aveline stayed behind and started talking to Wynne. Her falling had Aveline worried, and it showed all over her face. I walked in front of everyone for at least half an hour when Aveline came up next to me again.

"Wynne seems all right now. I'm so relieved! Oh she told me about a student she once had. I want to find that student, Alistair." she said while looking at me.

"Maybe we can find him with the Dalish Elves. He ran off to find them, maybe he did!"

"You mean he ran from the Circle Tower?" Aveline nodded. "But Templars would trace him down and kill him. There's little chance he managed." I carefully said.

"That's not the point. Maybe he _did_ managed to escape." Aveline frowned. "We have to try." I heard her whisper to herself after which she remained quiet.

- Teagen POV -

I was nearly there. I could see the lake and the Tower sticking out. My face was still hurting, but I knew what I had done. Guilt never left my body since the first moment it started. My hate of Eamon and Isolde grew by the day. I prayed to the Maker that the mages could help me. When the path to the docks were clear I fell on my knees. I barely slept in order to get here as fast as I could. I had already done so much to Alistair and Aveline. The least I could do was get the Anti-dote. My thoughts went to Aveline. Did they manage to free her from the potion and spell? Part of me felt sad. I would have done anything for Aveline to love me like she did when Eamon drugged her. I shook my head. I knew it wasn't good to make someone love you with a potion, it had to come from within herself and she had already rejected me once after I crossed the line with her. How was I supposed to earn her trust now? Show her I don't mean everything as bad as it all was.

I stood up again and I started walking to the man on the docks. When I arrived he questioned my reason to come to the Tower. I meantioned Aveline and I saw his eyes lighting up. He knew her. It didn't make him less reluctant to let me pass, but he did. He stepped in the boat and motioned me to follow. When we arrived at the Tower I was greeted by the First Enchanter. Irving I believed his name was. I told him what had happened and he immediately started asking about Aveline. Saying that she went with Alistair and that his companions would find a her for her themselves took away his concern for the most part. He sent some mages away to get started on some kind of anti-dote and guided me to his study. The Templar Gregoir was with us and he closed the door.

"You said Aveline was feeling sick?" he started while he sat down behind his desk. I nodded.

"And you said you two have been together as a result of being drugged by this man and woman?" Once again I nodded. I had nothing else to add.

"Have you ever thought about the fact that she might be pregnant? Women tend to feel sick in those periods and when they do too much it can result to fainting." I shook my head while my mouth hang open. I wasn't sure what to say to that. Could this be true? Could Aveline be pregnant? The first thought that came up was to find her. Yet another quickly followed and told me to go back to Redcliffe. They would come there eventually.

"I haven't heard of any Grey Warden pregnancies though." Irving continued. What was he trying to do? Confuse me to death? "Whilst I believe it is not entirely impossible. I mean, it would be hard for one Warden. Even harder for two Wardens. But not impossible!" he said. He now stared at me.

"But.. we weren't together like that for long." I said, trying to prove it wasn't possible. Irving waved away my comment before going on.

"People get pregnant with less tries than that." he said. Not a moment later a mage entered the room and I could see Templar Gregoir stiffen. He took a vial from the mage and told him to get another mage with him and to come back to the study when he did. He put the vial on the desk when the door closed and Irving took a look at it. He nodded and he stood up. When the two other mages came in he asked me to lie down on the little bench that was placed against the wall. They would perform a ritual there which should remove every trace of the potion Eamon gave me. I did as he asked and lied down. It wasn't very comfortable and I got nervous when they were all around me. The First Enchanter was standing at my side while one mage was standing near my head and another near my feet. The Templar was standing next to the mage that was near my head and kept a close eye on everything the mages were doing. I focussed on the ceiling and tried to relax when Irving opened the vial and started to use his magic.


	22. State of Mind

**chapter 22: State of mind**

- Aveline POV -

We were close to the Dalish camp when we sat up camp for the evening. It would take about one more week and then we were there after a long, very long journey. My belly has started to show minor signs of growing, something that I wasn't sure whether to like or not. I decided to swap my fighting skills to Archery instead of close combat. This way me and the child had less chance of getting injured. Wynne and Morrigan already told me that I should go look for other armor. Something that I could grow in, and they suggested robes of some sort. I had no choice but to agree, as my belly would just grow bigger and bigger and it would not even fit in my leather armor. So our plan was to ask the help of the Dalish for a robe which I could use. They may have some fabrics and maybe they could even use the dress I still had in my pack.

Alistair wasn't his old self around me yet. Even though he tried to hide is as good as possible I could feel it. He barely kissed me anymore and when he did it was short and he would look as if he regretted kissing me in the first place. It hurt me. I wouldn't tell him, but it did. I just hoped that he would come around and love me as much as he did before. I had no doubt he loved me, but it was different. All of this made me feel even more guilty as well. When he wouldn't kiss me, despite my effort to get him as comfortable as possible, I felt rejected. I felt was if I was just a piece of trash again. Used and ready to join the pile of trash. At those moments I put my arms around my stomach and prayed to remove what was left of that period and when I did that I felt guilty for thinking that way, knowing that a child for a Grey Warden was a miracle. It was like one huge neverending circle.

I could still hear the words he said to me in the tent. How he would stay and support me. I knew he was having a hard time with all of it, but was he lying? Maybe he couldn't handle it and blamed me for it. I felt like I was the one to blame as well so that wouldn't help. I remembered everything, yet I never objected to Teagan. I threw myself at him like I was a worker in The Pearl in Denerim. Over and over and over and over again. I shook my head and put my hands in my hair. I felt as if Alistair had every right to be mad at me as well and that I got what I asked for. That was exactly it. Leliana walked up to me with two bows in her hand and a quiver with arrows on her back. She smiled at me and didn't even ask what was wrong. Leliana saw everything! She knew when something was up and she was there when you needed to talk. I was grateful for a friend like her.

Without a word she put out a bow and I took it from her. I could use some practise as it was a while ago since I even used it. I had gotten so used to the close combat as well. Something that Leliana taught me when we first met her. She had marked our targets and we started to practise. We each had six arrows to fire before collecting them again. With each arrow I felt as if my aim got better again. I was glad it went so fast. If I would stand properly the string would only touch my chest. I made an internal note to myself that I had to ask for a plain chestpiece when they would make my temporary armor. Leliana corrected me every once in a while and the time went by fast. Our only light was now the fire Zevran had started to make dinner and to keep us warm. He and Alistair had been going in the forest together and I remember that I wondered why Alistair would go with Zevran.

I thought back about the night Alistair found us on our way to the Circle Tower and that he had asked Zevran to make an anti-dote. Maybe things had changed while I was away, and I couldn't help more guilt slowly flowing in me again. Leliana put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around so I'd face her. She looked worried and she put down her bow and the arrows. Saying we needed to talk, she guided me to a log just outside camp and sat me down on it. She stood in front of me with her arms crossed over each other and just stared at me. I looked up to face her and stared back. After a minute, realizing I was not in the mood for playing games, I patted on the place next to me so she would sit down as well.

"What did you want to talk about, Leliana?" She looked like she just got slapped in the face and I couldn't stop the grin that was appearing on my face. She shook her head.

"I don't understand you, Aveline. I mean... You're not yourself. I mean... I know that was to be expected after what happened, but I also thought that the real you would come back from there."

"The real me, as you call it, never left." I replied.

"Maybe so, but you do act different. So does Alistair. I know things are difficult for you..."

"You know? Leliana? You know?" I snapped. "How can _you_ know how it feels to make love with a man you _don't_ love! How can _you _know how it feels to know a potion was the cause of that! How can you know how it feels to carry one man's child when you love another! How can you know how it feels when the man you really _love_ doesn't want to have anything to do you with you _because of that_!" I yelled in anger while I stood up. I saw Leliana's shocked look and I stared to the ground while putting my hand before my eyes.

"I'm sorry... I... shouldn't have snapped to you." She stood up as well and put her arms around me.

"It's okay, Aveline." She said while she started to stroke my hair. "Alistair does love you, you know. He seems to get along with Zevran these days, and they actually talk. He's just having a hard time, but he's trying to cope with it in his own way." I removed the hand from my eyes and looked up to the sky. For a second I wondered what it would be like if I was a star and just lived up there. A immense large sky filled with other stars and sticking in your own place in silence. I waved away those thoughts and looked at Leliana.

"I... maybe you're right. Maybe I should just give him time. Did he tell you that he still loves me? It's just that... it's not like it was before." I said, worried for her answer.

"He shows it with the little things." she said. "when he sneaks in your tent to see if your all right. And when he puts the blanket around you when he sees you shiver. When he's giving you your breakfast before taking his own. Of course things will not be like they were before, but they can get even better than they used to be. You're both just... taking a detour." I had to laugh at Leliana.

"You know. I like the way you have your hair. It's simple and really suits you. I remember back in Orlais we had a season where feathers were totally in! One even carried a live bird in her hair!"

"Ah poor bird!" I laughed. Leliana did have her ways of making someone feel better. She was a master of changing subjects too. She agreed with me and hugged me before going back to camp. I followed her and checked the pot above the fire. I stirred in it, but realized I wasn't hungry yet. Zevran noticed what I was doing as I heard disapproving sounds. I turned around and found him standing right after me.

"You really should eat, dear Warden."

"I'm not hungry yet."

"You cannot allow yourself to be selfish now. You have another life to take care of." I nodded. I turned around and took my bowl and filled it. I walked to my tent and sat down in front of it. Zevran followed me and sat down next to me.

"Are you all on keep-an-eye-on-Aveline duty today?" I asked while I started eating.

"Yes! Though Oghren is not going to help, he might offer you a drink in his drunken state and he's always drunk. You'll be amazed when you see his collection he carries with him." I bursted out in laughter causing some pieces of my food to shoot out of my mouth. I swallowed what I still had left and threw my elbow in Zevran's ribs.

"We kinda heard you yelling to Leliana earlier by the way." Zevran said.

"Yes I suppose that can be true. I mean... I didn't really did my best to keep my voice down."

"You shouldn't worry. It confirmed Alistair's feelings for you." Zevran smiled when he said that. I looked at him and put down my food.

"Seriously... You should check with Leliana what she talked to me about before coming to me yourself." Zevran started laughing and stood up.

"Eat your food." He demanded. I frowned and ate the rest of my food. It was a quiet night and everyone did their own thing. I would have first watch when we would be at camp during my pregnancy and if I was getting too tired someone would take those over. I moved in my tent, changed for the night and took out a blanket which I took outside. While I walked to the fire, I tossed the blanket around my shoulders. I decided to clean my armor and weapons. The weapons I would still carry in my defense, but my armor needed to be clean so I could wear it. I unsheated my weapons and put them down in front of me and I started cleaning. It had me concentrated for so long that I wasn't even aware that everybody went to sleep until Alistair came saying goodnight. He was standing behind me and when I noticed him he moved closer. He smiled at me and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"Goodnight, love." he whispered and he moved to his tent. I looked in front of me into the fire and started smiling. Maybe things did start to get better again and maybe I was supposed to let time pass before expecting the best again. I finished cleaning my armor and sheated my weapons again. I put my armor away and walked to Feonar. He was sleeping near the tent and he trashed around. I would almost say he had a bad dream. Carefully I shook Feonar's body and he woke up. He whined a bit and moved closer to me.

"What's wrong boy? I'm here, you needn't worry." I whispered. He started licking me and went back to sleep again. I petted him on his head before going back to the fire. Suddenly I heard a snap from the forest nearby. I looked up and started to check my weapons. _Dagger, check._ I stood up and I heard another snap. _Dagger number two, check._ I moved towards the sound and I took my bow. _check._ When I saw some movement I started grabbing my arrows. My hands searched, but found nothing. _Shit!_ I quickly looked back and noticed I left them at the fire. I backed up and noticed a few men running from the forest towards me. I spotted their weapons within seconds and ran for my arrows. When I arrived at the fire the men had closed in and I quickly picked up my quiver and nocked an arrow. I turned around and pulled the string at the same time and saw the man was standing right behind me.

Startled that I was now armed, and ready to fire, he stopped his actions and backed up a little. I checked them and noticed even more men coming from the forest.

"Dear little Lady. You do not wish to harm me. These men will certainly get you." he laughed. He moved forward again and I yelled to Feonar to wake everyone up.

"Did you really think I would be the only one in this camp?" I told the man, not taking me eyes of him.

"Yes, your dog might be running away like a coward as we speak." he said. "If you lower your weapon, I promise you we will not hurt you. We'll only be enjoying your lovely body. First me and then my men." The man started laughing even harder this time. I released my arrow and it went straight into the man's throat. Rage consumed me and the other bandits started to charge to me. I took my two daggers after I put my bow on my back and started fighting them off. Suddenly I saw Zevran coming out of the shadows and sliced the throat of the bandit he sneaked up. He moved to my side and started fighting off the men I was trying to kill. I took back my bow and backed up again and nocked another arrow. Leliana, Feonar and Alistair were now joining the fight and they made sure none of the bandits came through. When they were all dead Alistair walked straight towards me.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. I shook my head. "The screaming of those bandits woke us up and we charged as soon as we could." I frowned, still looking at the dead bandits.

"They've spoiled all the work I had done with my daggers!" I said in anger. Alistair started laughing and took my shoulders. He pulled me closer to him and made me look at him.

"They should know better than to mess with a pregnant woman." He said while he kissed me on the lips. I immediately felt that this kiss was honest. It was filled with love. I wanted more and my lips parted a little, hoping that he would take the bate. He did. With his hand in my hair he pulled me near him even more and he started kissing me deeply. Our tongues played as if they were kept from each other for ages. Desire started to build up in my body and I could feel that he had the same. Suddenly we heard coughing from Zevran.

"Not that I do not enjoy your little play over there, dear Wardens... But I am certain other people have no need for it. If you wish I could join you in your tents?" he playfully said. I smiled and felt a blush coming up. I was glad it was dark so nobody would see it. Nobody but Alistair. He smiled at me and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"Right, so ehm... maybe we should get rid of the bodies?" I suggested while I got started with one. Alistair stopped me and took it over. When I tried to move another one he gave me an angry look and shook his head. I released the body and went back to the fire. I was starting to get tired, but I tried to stop the yawn I felt coming up. It didn't take long for the rest to move the bodies of the bandits and they soon came back to camp. Leliana came walking up to me saying that I needed my sleep. I didn't argue with her and I stood up to move to my tent. I picked up my blanket and I started walking. Alistair stopped me and walked in front of me.

"I... don't want you to sleep alone tonight, Aveline." I smiled.

"The bandits are dead, Alistair. I'm not in any danger anymore."

"That may be so, but it feels wrong. You should be at my side. I ... want you by my side." He was looking at the ground and shifted on his feet.

"I just want to be able to look at you when you sleep." He continued. I nodded.

"Okay sure. Let me just put my things in my own tent and I'll come to you straight away." He smiled and moved to his own tent. Once I had put everything away, I walked to his and moved in. He was removing his armor and smiled when I came in. As I already removed my armor when I wanted to clean it, I simply undressed and sat next to Alistair. I helped him with his armor and I lied down when it was off. He put his armor in the corner and moved next to me. We were now facing each other and I touched his face with my hand.

"I've missed this." I whispered.

"Me too." he whispered back. My eyelids became heavy and I couldn't resist my sleep anymore. This pillow was way to nice to ignore and it was so nice and warm. I felt Alistair's arms around me and he pulled me closer. He gave me a kiss on my forehead and I drifted off to the Fade.


	23. Horrible Timing Or not?

**Another chapter up, I'm on fire! Ha! Right well enjoy it I'd say! Oh and a warning, M rated somewhere in the middle!  
**

- Aveline POV -

Light consumed the tent and it slowly woke me up. Was it morning already? When my eyes were adjusted again, I saw Alistair still sleeping next to me. I rolled on my back and stretched myself. We should get going. The sooner we would arrive at the Dalish the better. I got up, careful not to wake Alistair, and put on my clothes. My armor was still at my own tent so I moved out and ran over. Oghren was awake and I decided to chat with him as soon as I had put on my armor. A few minutes later I buckled the last pieces and stepped out of my tent. Oghren was just searching his pack when I stood next to him.

"What are you searching for?" I asked. He looked up and seemed annoyed. He continued to search his pack.

"Just the bloody beer I had thrown in my pack." I started laughing.

"You really do drink all day long, don't you!"

"Aye! You're the boss the pike twirler is with, aren't you!"

"I suppose. Fancy nickname you have picked out for him!" He nodded and seemed to have found his beer. Holding it up like he just won a price he faced me.

"There it is! I knew I had it somewhere! So ehm. Oghren directed his attention on his drinking and I felt as if I was disturbing his private party so I continued packing. Not long after I saw Alistair walking out of his tent, looking around like he lost something. When he spotted me he seemed to calm down and I had to chuckle. He went back into his tent to collect his things. When everybody was ready we started making our final part of the journey towards the Dalish. Alistair and I were walking in front while the rest simply followed us. The last part of the journey took indeed a week, as predicted. When we arrived at the Dalish we could see a few people standing in front of the entrance of their camp. A woman walked forward and stopped us. She looked angry and annoyed that we seemed to have crossed their camp.

"Halt there. You're trespassing our grounds. I suggest you go back where you came from." she said while she pointed to the direction we just came from. I stepped forward from our group to talk to her and noticed the archers around her tensed up.

"We were actually looking for your clan." I said, still keeping an eye on her fellow Elves.

"And you expect me to believe that? Now go back, I will not warn you again."

"We're Grey Wardens, and we're looking for the help of the Dalish against the Blight."

"How do I know you really are Grey Wardens?" she replied.

"I suppose you can't know that, and will just have to believe us on our word. Maybe you can let us speak to your Keeper?" I suggested, glad that I at least remembered something of what I've read about the Dalish Elves.

"All right. I'll take you to the Keeper, but don't even think to try anything as our archers still have their arrows trained on you." I nodded and motioned for the others to follow me. When we arrived at the Keeper he asked the woman why he brought us here. He was stressed and didn't want to talk to us. When she explained we were Grey Wardens his look changed. Sadness took over and when he sent the woman away he faced me.

"I am Keeper Zathrian. May I know who it is that visits our clan?"

"My name is Aveline. We're Grey Wardens and are looking for the Dalish' help against the blight."

"You're timing could not be more off." he said. "We're being plagued by a curse." The Keeper showed us around and let us see the wounded. He told us that they would die if they couldn't find a way to stop the curse. More and more of his clan were infected, and he would not allow anyone in the forest anymore. Werewolves were supposed to be the cause of this plague. I turned to my companions and looked at them. Alistair seemed to know what I was thinking and he started to object.

"Aveline, I know you want to help these people, but in your state you should be careful!"

"Alistair, I know you're concerned, but I can't sit around and wait!"

"You don't have do sit around and wait, my love." he said while a smirk crossed his face. "I've got just the most perfect plan for you while we're gone." Before I knew it Alistair planted this job on himself and left me in the Dalish camp. He had taken Wynne, Zevran and Leliana with him and I was casted out of the group. I was irritated for this even though I understood the reason. Morrigan started to pull me with her and Feonar simply followed where ever I went. Shale quickly said that she would be doing her own thing while she was here and walked away. Morrigan took me back to the Keeper and asked who was best in tailoring. He told us to try and find Elora. She was with the Halla's and loved to make her own clothing. Before I could even express my thanks she dragged me to the Halla's. A woman sat beside one and looked worried. I freed myself from Morrigan's grasp and moved towards her.

"Hello? Are you Elora?" The woman looked up and nodded.

"I am. Who might you be?" She responded.

"I'm Aveline, and this is Morrigan." I said while I motioned to Morrigan. "We were told by the Keeper that you enjoy making clothes. We were wondering if you could help us.. well... me."

"I would if I didn't had this Halla to look after. I'm sorry, but she is not well and I really need to look after her."

"What is wrong with her?"

"I don't know, but I can't seem to calm her." I sat down in front of the halla and tried to calm her down. It seemed to work as the animal wasn't moving as much as it did before. The woman was pleased and thanked me for calming her down. She know could tell what bothered the Halla and it was its companion who was injured. She wanted to help me in return and wondered what it was that I needed.

"I am with child... and soon I won't be able to wear this armor anymore." She looked down and nodded.

"You shouldn't be wearing that as we speak. Let me help you out, though you have to promise me to wear it straight away!" She looked serious.

"I promise. I do have a dress in my pack. It's all the fabric I have which can be used." I took the dress and gave it to Elora. She nodded and took me with her. I sat in the grass while she made the dress. Morrigan seemed to have gone and do her own thing again as when I looked back, I couldn't find her anymore. It took Elora a few hours to finish the armor, and when she did she showed it to me. It looked wonderful! The top was a bit low cut, but that's how the dress was as well. It was simple so my string of my bow wouldn't hang on anything. The waist was set in different layers so I could untie a layer each time my belly would grow too big. The bottom was set of a few strings of fabric so I was covered well enough. It wouldn't get lower than my knees. It even had a belt where I could put my daggers on to. I took it from Elora and hugged her.

"Thank you so much. This looks wonderful!" I said.

"You're welcome. Now you go and put it on!" she laughed. I did as she told me to and came out with the armor she made for me on, and the leather armor in my pack. It was very comfortable and I swirled around in it. Not long after I heard some people running. I looked around and noticed that there was a group of Dalish who had another wounded man with them. I walked to them and asked what happened.

"Your friends found him in the forest." The woman said. It was the same woman who stopped us at the entrance when we wanted to came in. She and her men walked to the place where their other wounded friends were and put the man down. These Dalish Elves were looking out for each other well.

"I see you have changed your armor? How far are you?" she asked. I put my hands on my belly and looked at it.

"Couple of months." I simply said, examining the rounds of my belly closely.

"Your friend only wants the best for this child and keep it safe. Is he the father?" she suddenly asked. I looked up at her and opened my mouth to say something.

"Eh.. no." I softly said.

"Ah..." she kept looking at my belly before finally looking me in the eyes. "so the father has passed away?" I shook my head.

"Not quite..." She started to look confused.

"Then I don't understand. Are you not faithful to the father of this child?" she asked. My eyes started to tear up and I turned around and walked away. I didn't want to have this discussion with a stranger, as I wasn't even sure how to explain this. I walked to the lake and sat down near it. I liked the water, it looked to peaceful! Feonar sat down next to me.

"Where did you go?" I simply said. He gave a whine and I petted him. The ever so faithful dog, I thought to myself. Suddenly I heard Alistair's voice again. They came back to the camp! I stood up immediately and quickly walked to the group. When I saw him I fell in his arms and sobbed.

"Hello to you too! I wasn't gone for that long was I?" he said. I moved back to face him and brushed away the tears.

"Ugh. No of course not!"

"I like your new armor!" he said while he looked down at my breasts.

"Oh, yes. I'm sure you do."

"We found ironbark. Leliana was given the request to bring some back to they could use it." He said while he gave Leliana the piece if Ironbark. She walked away with it and I focussed back on Alistair. He guided me away from the others.

"We're going back tomorrow. Lots of weird stuff is going on in there, and it's getting too late to venture in the woods now." I nodded and backed Alistair up until he hit a tree. I started kissing him passionately and after a few minutes I broke it off.

"I want you, Alistair. So badly." I whispered in his ear. I didn't continue until I knew what his reaction would be. He looked at me and stroked my hair.

"I love you, Aveline. I really do. I just..."

"I'm sorry... I should've known it was too soon... after all that's happened." I said while I looked down. Alistair started laughing softly.

"Oh, but that isn't it, my love." I looked up, confused and not knowing what his point was.

"Won't it.. you know... hurt the baby?" I shook my head while I smiled. He then kissed me and I felt his desire for me. He turned me around and backed me up against the tree instead. He stopped the kissing and guided me further away from the Dalish camp. When we were out of reach he kissed me again. He pushed himself against me and I felt him harden fast. I removed my armor during the kisses and he did the same with his. We were now in our underclothes and he stood against me again. I gasped the moment his hardened piece touched me as he had it right near my area.

Without a word he guided me to the grass and a moment later I was lying down on it. He was on me and teased me by brushing his hardened piece against my area again. Even though he was still in his underclothes it aroused me extremely! He removed my underclothes and his own and started licking my nipples. I moaned and grasped his hair. With his fingers he traced down my body down to my wet area and started stroking me. I pushed my head back in the grass in pleasure as he continued and slowly his head moved down. Before I knew it his head was down at my wet area and he started licking me. Slowly he stroked around my pleasure point and I started to shiver. When I was nearly at my highest point he came back up again.

"Bastard!" I managed to whisper and he continued with his fingers. One finger moved inside of me and another joined soon. I would finish soon and Alistair continued to stroke my pleasure point. Not long after I released myself and Alistair continued. He kissed me again and I started to feel his hardened piece. With force I made Alistair lie on his back and I sat down on top of him. The kissing hadn't stopped during that action and my kisses moved to his nipples. Slowly I arrived at his hardened piece and started licking it. Alistair moaned and I took it into my mouth. I pleased him with rocking back and forth with my head and his hands were in my hair. I stopped and moved up again. Slowly I slid myself on his hardened piece.

"Dear Maker, woman!" he softly said while I moaned softly. I started rocking back and forth again and Alistair took my breasts in his hands. He pinched in my nipples and a moment later he forced me on my back again while reslid himself into me. He started to move more roughly and I moaned in pleasure. I put my legs around his waist, asking for more. He agreed to my request and I could feel myself coming again. I started to shiver more and Alistair moaned. I could feel him hardening inside me and he was on the edge of finishing. This feeling caused me to finish and not long after he finished as well. He slid out of me and collapsed next to me. Together we simply lied there and stared to the sky. We talked a bit and finally we decided to get some dinner. When we were dressed we walked to the camp and sat near the fire. Wynne came walking towards me and asked me to walk with her. I stood up and walked with Wynne.

"I'd like to run another check on you and your child." She said.

"All right... Do you think something is wrong?"

"No dear. It's just another check, just more thorough like the first one."

"Okay. Well... when do you want to do it?

"As soon as possible, go have your dinner and then come to me." I nodded to Wynne and sat next to Alistair again. As soon as he saw me he asked if something was wrong. I lifted my shoulders.

"I don't know. She wanted to check me and the baby." I said while I took some dinner out of the pot that was above the fire. It smelled good and I thanked the Dalish for letting me get some of it.

"Why? Does she think something is wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know, but if you want you can stay with me?" Alistair nodded and after dinner we both went to Wynne. She walked with us and made sure I would be comfortable in the tent she had arranged. It was quite light despite the fact it was dark outside. The tent was really large and the candles seemed safely placed in the tent. Alistair sat down next to me, and Wynne stood on the other side. She started to examine me with her magic and the tent filled up with a bright blue light. I looked at Wynne and she looked serious. She seemed highly concentrated while she let her hands float above my belly. I smiled and looked to Alistair. He seemed very interested in what Wynne was doing. When he noticed I was looking at him he took my hand and held it. With his fingers he rubbed on the back of my hand. I squeezed in it and looked back up again.


	24. Forgiveness

**Nothing much to add here really, just enjoy this new chapter :)**

- Aveline POV -

Wynne broke off her concentration and asked Alistair to stand next to her. The second he was near her, Wynne took his hand and used her magic on both Alistair and my belly. When she was done the bright blue light slowly faded away. A smile crossed her face.

"Exactly what I thought!"

"What?" I said while I sat up.

"Aveline, you're further along than you think." I frowned.

"How is that possible?" Alistair helped me up while we both were eager to hear Wynne her comment. She started laughing.

"Oh young ones! I am quite sure that you both have done more than giving each other kisses."

"You mean..." Alistair started.

"The baby is Alistair's?" I gasped. Wynne nodded and Alistair's first response was to hug her.

"That's wonderful news Wynne!" he said.

"Easy, Alistair!" Wynne laughed.

"It explains the time frame of you feeling sick as well." Wynne continued to me. "It would take longer before you start to feel like that. Also, your child seems fine so you have no need to worry." Wynne gave me a hug and smiled to me.

"I'm so happy for you both." she said. Deciding to leave us alone, she left the tent. I looked at Alistair and he was like a happy overactive puppy. Those eyes expressed everything he felt. I started laughing and threw myself at Alistair. Soon tears followed and I couldn't stop the sobbing.

"What's wrong, Aveline? This is good news!" he said while he gently stroked my hair.

"Yes, I know love. I know. I'm just so happy! And relieved!"

"Me too, you've got no idea." he said with a soft chuckle. He pushed me off him so I'd face him and he carefully removed my tears from my cheeks.

"There. Let's go share the news?" he said while he guided me out.

- Teagan POV -

After a long journey I finally arrived back in Redcliffe. I was not looking forward to the moment I would step into the castle. I knew I had to face Eamon and tell him what had happened. Eamon would be extremely happy that Aveline turned out to be pregnant though he would be less pleased to hear that Alistair and his friends took her with him. Deciding to stall that moment for as long as possible I started walking and guided the two horses along. When I arrived, servants took over the horses and I looked at the gates. They must have heard me coming as Isolde came walking out. I looked at her and noticed something I hadn't noticed before. She was pregnant and had been hiding it well until now. Her belly was getting large.

"Teagan! How good to see you're back. Is Aveline coming too?" I shook my head and I saw her getting confused and looking behind me to see if she was coming anyway.

"No Isolde. She isn't coming."

"Did she fall ill at the Tower, Teagan? What happened?" I sighed.

"Take me to Eamon, Isolde. It saves me repeating what I have to tell." Isolde didn't linger and dragged me to Eamon's study. Eamon was sitting behind his desk and looked up when Isolde threw open the door. Not pleased with her entrance, Eamon frowned. He then looked behind me to see if anyone else would follow. Isolde closing the door gave him enough information and he focussed back on me.

"How did it go at the Tower, Teagan?" he asked.

"It went well, Eamon. It's quite large. I'm sure Connor will suit right in there."

"Stop the small talk. What did they say about Aveline?"

"They say she might be pregnant." Eamon's eyes lit up for a second.

"That's wonderful news, Teagan! What do you mean by 'might' though?"

"She wasn't there, I only told them how she felt."

"What do you mean she wasn't there? You went to the Tower with Aveline. Together! How can you lose a woman!" Eamon said while he slammed his fists on the desk.

"I mean that Alistair found her. They have taken her with them so she would continue with her Grey Warden duties."

"What? And you just let them? Aveline just let them? A woman in that conditions shouldn't even be out on the road at all!"

"Oh stop it, Eamon." I calmly replied. "They would've taken her by forced had they needed to. Alistair already beat the crap out of me for doing what we did." Eamon started laughing.

"So the boy's got a spine. Well you seem to be all right. Tell me, what did she say when they took her?"

"She wanted to stay with me. When they forced her to come, she at least wanted to say her goodbyes to me before going with them."

"So the potion hasn't stopped working. That's good! And with your potion, she'll be yours again within no time when they arrive at Redcliffe after they've gathered their precious army."

"Eamon, they do need to stop the Blight remember?"

"And how does a pregnant woman want to do that, Teagan! She'll be forced to stay behind. You know... things will be easier if you would marry her. She's getting your child already after all." I shook my head. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Not only had Aveline gone with Alistair, the man who had the real relationship with her, she also didn't had real feelings for me.

"I won't do that, Eamon."

"We'll see about that when she gets here. I want to see if she is really with child anyway."

"Eamon, you should stop this before people are getting hurt!"

"I shall not think about stopping, Teagan! This concerns our future! My son's future! Connor may go to the Tower, but I will do more than my best for my other son!" Eamon shouted while he pointed to Isolde. This man was beyond reason. I turned around to leave and opened the door when Eamon kept yelling.

"You will do as I ask Teagan! You wouldn't want Aveline to get hurt in an accident now, do you!" I slammed the door behind me in fury. I walked to the dining room and sat down. Adrenaline flowed through my veins and I took the nearest vase and with a scream I threw it against the wall as hard as I could.

- Aveline POV -

I rolled to my side and my arm flew over to rest on Alistair. When it only touched pillows I opened my eyes. He had already left. Wondering what time it was, I sat up and looked around. I released a yawn and got dressed. The Dalish were already extremely busy. My stomach started to make noises and only one thing came to find. Food. Morrigan had set up her own little camp a bit further away from the rest. I walked towards her and she looked up when I arrived.

"Came to steal away my food?" she asked.

"Well not steal, but rather ask if ou would share it with me?" I said with a grin. She sighed and collected some for me. I sat down next to Morrigan and looked at her.

"Is something wrong?" I asked while I ate. Morrigan raised an eyebrow at me.

"You really should learn not to speak when your mouth is full." I lifted my shoulders and she focussed on the fire she made.

"Remember the Grimoire you gave me?" I nodded.

"I studied it and I expected to find something else."

"So what did you find? A spell of Immortality?"

"Oh if only... It describes how Flemeth has survived for so long. By taking the body of her daughters. I refuse to be filled like an empty sack. She must be killed."

"Are you serious? Kill Flemeth? The Witch of the Wilds?" I gasped.

"Yes I'm serious. I cannot come with you however. She might try to take over my body when I'm there. I'm not even sure that she really would be dead as well, but 'tis what must be done."

"Oh..." I said while I kept staring at Morrigan. "All right. I'll help you." We talked a little while longer and I finished eating the food she gave me. When I was done, I thanked Morrigan for the food and stood up. I decided to walk around a bit. I would make sure that Alistair would not leave without me next time! I couldn't stand sitting around and waiting until others solved issues where I could've helped.

My focus went to the Keeper. What would a Keeper do during a day? My eyes followed him and I quickly noticed that he was leaving the camp site. I decided to follow him and collected my bow, quiver and daggers. He went into the forest and took a side path. I looked back to see if nobody noticed me leaving as well and walked in after the Keeper. I made sure not to step on anything and carefully hid myself when I was too close. I could see a trail of dead trees and I wondered what happened. It seemed that I missed all the fun.

Zathrian didn't stop and his pace was fast. I circled around the trees and moved after him until we were at some ruins. There was only a small part of the ruin sticking out and the Keeper had disappeared in the building. I sighed and took my bow just to be sure. I sneaked up after him in stealth and saw he was standing in the middle of the building. He was just standing there and looking around.

He sat on his knees and examined the floor. The roots of the trees had settled in the building and he was touching them. Suddenly doors opened from the left side and I could see Alistair appearing! Zevran, Leliana and Wynne followed him and Alistair was surprised to find Zathrian there.

"Zathrian? What are you doing here? Did you follow us?"

"Yes." the Keeper said. "It was not very difficult to find the path you made. Did you kill Witherfang?" he asked.

"No." Alistair replied. I saw the confusement over the Keeper's face.

"Why not? Are you betraying me?" he said more angry this time.

"Zathrian, the Lady of the Forest wishes to talk to you. That's all."

"Is that how she calls herself now? Did you know that this Lady is actually Witherfang?"

"Yes, I figured as much." Zathrian turned around and he now looked in my direction. "Talking is useless after all they've done to us!"

"The Lady promised me that she only wishes to talk. She means you no harm."

"Are _you_ going to protect me if she breaks that promise? Even if they could speak, I doubt they would have anything worthwhile to say."

"What else do you want us to do. Just kill them?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I asked for you to do!"

"Not a chance, Zathrian. We're going to talk to the Lady." I said while I came out of the shadows.

"What are you doing here!" Alistair said while he walked to me.

"I saw Zathrian sneaking away from the camp and decided to follow him. As for you, Keeper, we will go talk to them and listen to what they've got to say."

"Do I have your word that you will protect me if they attack?"

"Yes, unless you attack them first." This seemed to be enough for Zathrian to follow us. Once we arrived the werewolves growled in anger. They were not pleased by the presence of Zathrian even though they requested it. The werewolve near the Lady of the Forest wanted to attack Zathrian and asked the approval of the Lady. She denied it. She really wanted to talk. The Keeper couldn't let go of his anger, of his need of vengeance. Suddenly Zathrian backed up and raised his staff. We stood in front of the Lady and the werewolves and while the werewolve near the Lady was whining that he knew the Keeper would attack them, Alistair moved in front of me. Wynne, Zevran and Leliana moved next to him as well and I briefly wondered why they would leave me a spot so I could actually hit Zathrian instead of them.

The Keeper unleashed his anger with his magic and trees started to move towards the werewolves. The Lady was frozen as were the wolves. I called out for Wynne to remove the spell that kept them and started to nock my arrow so I could kill the trees. Alistair and Zevran had moved forward to face Zathrian and I could see them fighting him. Despite the lack of armor, the Keeper managed to keep them back with his magic. I pulled the string and I focussed on the tree that was moving towards Leliana. She didn't look at the tree yet as she was still firing arrows to Zathrian. Suddenly I saw a flash in the corner of my eyes, and I knew Zathrian had cast something towards the Lady. As I was in front of the Lady, I could see it coming right to me.

A werewolf was now standing in between us to protect their leader and within a second I felt a painful hit to my side and I fell on the ground. Luckily I landed on my other side. Another werewolf made sure I was out of the way as well and he was now climbing of me again, focussing on the fight. The lightning had hit the werewolf guardian and he was trying to get up from the blow. I looked up and noticed the tree was coming my way. My arrow had released when I was knocked down and it knew where it was coming from.

I sat on my knees and nocked another arrow and without a thought I released it into the trees so called head. It fell on the floor and I saw Zathrian getting weaker as well. I nocked another arrow and focussed on the Keeper. I released it and the arrow flew through the air and hit the Keeper's stomach. He fell on his knees in pain and his magic stopped. Alistair stopped Zevran's attacks and everbody was quiet. The controlled trees were on the floor as well and the Lady asked for Zathrian to come closer. She didn't want to fight. I checked if I was all right and stood up. Alistair saw me getting up and rushed over me.

"This is why I don't want you to come with us!" he whispered. His voice was filled with concern. I felt stupid for following the Keeper now. Why did I have to go after him? Something could have happened to the child. "I want Wynne to check you after we're done here!" he demanded, again in whisper. I nodded and focussed on the Lady and the Keeper. They were now facing each other and the Keeper looked defeated. Out of shame he faced the ground while he spoke.

"You shame me." the Keeper said. The Lady told him that it gotten everything it wanted. It had lived to see pain, love, everything anyone else would experience as well, but now it was enough. It was time to end. I stepped in and asked the Keeper how long this would be going on if he would continue. His sad eyes looked at mine and realization stepped in. It was enough. Zathrian stood up and stood close to the Lady. He nodded and they agreed he would end the curse. The werewolves weren't sure about the choice of the Lady. They would lose their leader. The Lady motioned for them to step back, that things were all right and they did.

I watched Zathrian lift his staff. He looked at the ceiling and I saw a small smile cross his face. With force he thrusted the staff down into the ground and something happened. His body became limp and his mouth opened up a little. He was dying or already dead. I gasped and quickly watched to the Lady. The werewolves said their goodbyes and suddenly light consumed the Lady. It was like she dissolved into thin air. The pieces of light moved up and they slowly faded away. The Lady was gone and when I looked down, the werewolves were transforming to their human form again. I blinked my eyes and I saw the only thing that was left of the curse were their yellow eyes.

The people were glad the curse was finally gone. When we asked what they were going to do, they said to go and find a village where they could stay. They would build up their lives as human beings again. The ran away from the ruins and I looked back at Alistair with a huge smile. That smile quickly faded away when I saw Alistair looking at me. He was... angry?

"You are carrying our child and you're just following Zathrian because you were bored?"

"I...eh..." He moved towards me and grabbed my shoulders. His eyes faced the ground for a second before he looked at me again.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't overreact so much. I guess... that I'm afraid something will happen to him or her."

"I understand, love. I should have thought twice, I suppose. I didn't think anything could happen as the only thing I'm using is the bow. I'll be more careful next time, I promise." Alistair kissed my forehead and smiled at me.

"I still want Wynne to examine you." he said and when I tried to speak about that he held up his finger. "You've got no choice in that." he grinned.


	25. Lies and Deception

**Another chapter is up! I hope you will enjoy it again!**

- Aveline POV -

"You should be more careful, Warden!"

"Dear Maker Sten! You scared me!"

"If I scare you, how are you going to fight an Archdemon?"

"Oh that's not what I meant and you know it."

"I want to know. How will you do it?"

"Usually something dies when you stick a sword in the head?"

"If it is that easy, why do we need _you _Warden?"

"Good question, though I am glad I don't have to explain anything to you." I replied still having a heart attack from the scare Sten gave me. We were at our tents in the Dalish camp and Wynne was checking me. She made sure Sten left the tent and focussed back on me.

"Your child is just fine." she said. I smiled and sat up. These events took more of me than I anticipated. I was getting tired and it wasn't even that late yet. I walked out the tent and started looking for the new Keeper. Alistair must had known what I was up to as he came walking towards me.

"I just spoke to the new Keeper." he started. "She felt it when Zathrian died. Quite sad really." he said with sad puppy eyes. "Anyway, she agreed to help us against the Blight. We've got all our treaties now so we can call the Landsmeet."

"I agree. There is one point that we still have to discuss though." I said while I looked down to my belly.

~o~

The journey to Redcliffe was slow. Much slower than I had expected. A large part had to do with the fact that I was getting tired faster. It had already troubled me when we lifted the curse at the Dalish, and Wynne now made sure I had my rest. This caused us to be on the road much and much longer. When Redcliffe was in sight, I was glad. The stars were already starting to appear at the sky. when we finally arrived. I wished nothing more than a warm and comfortable bed. Especially with my growing child in the way, it would be a welcome luxary. Alistair had the treaties ready and we all walked in the castle. We were standing in the main hall when Teagan saw us. His eyes widened and he moved towards us. Alistair and I motioned for Teagan to follow us to the corner of the room. I noticed him staring at me and smiled.

"Teagan, Alistair and I wanted to discuss... this situation with you." I said as my eyes moved to my belly to show him what I was talking about. He nodded and looked me in the eyes.

"Is it..."

"No, it is not. This child is Alistair's. Also the potion is not working anymore as you can see. Alistair requested the help of Zevran to make an anti-dote."

"Oh I'm glad. I'm so very, very sorry Aveline." Teagan said. I held up my hand as I predicted we had little time before Eamon or Isolde would show up.

"Please, let us finish before your brother comes in." We had little time for apologies and we decided we had to act as if nobody had found an anti-dote. We would tell Eamon and Isolde this child would be Teagan's, hoping that they would buy it. Not a moment to soon they both came walking in the main hall. We were gathered together and Teagan quickly took my hand in his.

"Did you manage to gather all the treaties?" he asked.

"We have, Arl Eamon." Alistair replied.

"Good, then we can call the Landsmeet. Loghain will be forced to make an appearance and I'm sure he will not be happy about that." Eamon smiled. He focussed back on me and moved towards me.

"Aveline, dear. I am so relieved to find you unharmed. Teagan told us your friends found you and made you do your Warden duties."

"Arl Eamon." I said while I slightly bowed. "I am glad to be back in Redcliffe."

"I can imagine you are." he said with a large smile on his face. "I see you are with child! You have my best wishes! Teagan is a lucky man!" I faked a shy smile and stared at the ground.

"I am certain the Wardens won't need you when the Archdemon shows up?" he said while he casted a look at Alistair. I looked at him as well and frowned.

"I hope not." I replied.

"She is needed for the Landsmeet though, Arl Eamon." Alistair interfered. I could tell it annoyed Eamon.

"Of course a journey all the way towards Denerim would take too much out of her in the state she's in."

"We will provide a wagon and horses for her, Alistair. I am certain this will help a great deal." Eamon was looking confused to Teagan for a moment, before looking back to Alistair.

"Thank you, bann Teagan." Alistair said with a smile. I stared at Isolde and saw she was standing against the wall, waiting for Eamon to finish his business with Alistair. She couldn't wait until we were gone, I could tell. I let go of Teagan his hand and walked to Isolde.

"Oh my, Isolde!" I exclaimed. "You're pregnant as well? What a marvelous coincedence!" I said. She smiled to me and nodded. Alistair walked towards me and took my wrist. He started walking towards the door to leave for Denerim when Eamon interfered.

"You're welcome to stay the night by the way." he said. I looked back to Eamon and then looked at Alistair. "It is far too late to go to Denerim anyway." he continued.

"Oh I'm glad you offered, Arl Eamon! Thank you very much!" I said while I removed my arm from Alistair's grasp and I quickly walked to Teagan. Together we moved out of the room and I could only hope and Alistair and the others would follow soon. When we were out of earshot, Teagan let me go. We were standing in front of the rooms and I paced around.

"Aveline, can we talk about what happened?"

"We lied to Eamon and now I'm waiting for Alistair to join me in my room." I said while I stared at the stairs.

"That's not really what I meant.." I turned around to face Teagan.

"I know, truthfully it has caused me much pain. It broke my heart to see Alistair after what happened. I felt like I was betraying him even though I had no control over my actions. Maker, the moment I found out I was pregnant...I thought ... it was... you know." I said while my thoughts went back to the moment Wynne told me I was pregnant and I thought it was Teagan's.

"I feel like I've commited high treason! I am glad that the child turned out to be Alistairs instead of mine. I would gladly support you and raise it was it mine but still this is better for everyone? Maker, Alistair will be King and Eamon caused an affair between the future Queen and his own brother." Teagan said.

"Queen? Don't be silly." I said with a smile.

"Why not?" he continued. "You _are_ carrying his heir as we speak. Not to forget you are a Cousland." I waved his comment away.

At that moment Alistair was in sight and he walked towards me.

"Are you all right, love?" he asked. Alistair ignored Teagan and I nodded at him. "Let's head to your room for the night." he said while he took my hand.

"Goodnight Wardens." Teagan said. I looked back to Teagan before looking at Alistair and saw he wasn't looking too happy. When he closed the door of the room he stood against it and sighed.

"Thank the Maker that's over. I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd hate Teagan and Eamon. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling fine." I said and I started to kiss him.

"Can we talk, Aveline? I've been thinking..."

"Oh?"

"You needn't worry." he laughed. "At the Landsmeet I will be put forward as King. If that's going to happen..." He started to act nervous and I wondered what was wrong.

"Don't you want it anymore, love? You'd be a great King!"

"It's not that." He closed in on me and touched my belly. "You've got my heir there." he said while he smiled to me.

"What I'm trying to say is... I love you with all my heart Aveline. You make me crazy when I'm around you and I cannot imagine being apart. Will you be my wife?"

"Oh Alistair." I said while I hugged him. "Yes!"

"Your belly is getting huge!" he said when I let him go. I started laughing.

"It's not that bad yet, my dear." I noticed Alistair was taking something out of his pocket.

"I know we still have to pretend around Eamon, but I do want you do have this already." he said while he took my hand and placed a ring in my palm. I sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at it.

"It's beautiful!" I whispered.

"It's nothing major, but I can get you another one when we're getting married." he said. I shook my head.

"No. This is perfect. Thank you, my love!" I said while I grabbed him for a kiss.

~o~

- Teagan POV -

Outside the room I could hear Alistair laugh. He was talking about the landsmeet I could tell that much. I smiled sadly when he mentioned his heir. A part of me felt sad knowing it wasn't my child after all even if a larger part was relieved for it. Suddenly I heard Alistair proposing to Aveline. So I was right after all! Assuming Aveline would say yes, I moved to my own room. I was glad knowing that Eamon was staying on another floor. At least he couldn't overhear anyone. When I went back into my room I looked at the whiskey. I closed the door and took a glass. I filled the bottom and drank it away in one go. At least sleep would come easily tonight.

The next morning everybody was up early. Before Eamon and Isolde were awake the wagon was packed up and everyone was ready to go. I stood at a distance watching Aveline go into the wagon. Alistair helped her up there and older female mage moved in as well. Eamon would not be pleased they would leave in advance, not waiting for him. When I walked back in the castle I could hear noises coming from Eamon's room. He ran down and saw the moving wagon.

"Are they leaving already? Why haven't they waited? What did you do to her, Teagan." Eamon said in anger.

"Calm down, brother. They're just leaving early as they didn't want to bother you. You've got a horse available and thus will be a lot faster than they are as most of them are still walking remember? Oh they will be a bit later anyway as they need to make a small detour."

"Detour? Where to?"

"I am not sure. Alistair didn't say anything else."

"Hm. Right. I will leave soon, Teagan. Make sure the servants have my horse ready."

- Aveline POV -

We were standing at the grounds where our Warden adventure started. The Korcari Wilds and we were now looking at Flemeth her hut. Morrigan grew up here and after persuading Alistair he agreed to help Morrigan kill her mother. She had her reasons for it, and it sounded solid to me. If my mother would be an evil witch who wanted to take over my body for her own use, I might have done the same thing.

So here we were, standing in the Wilds, and seeing Flemeth walking out of her hut. She must have expected us as she looked straight in our direction. I walked towards her and she started laughing. I raised an eyebrow and ignored the laugh. She looked around and when she saw Morrigan wasn't with us she focussed back on me.

"Oh, with child, are we?" I sighed. That was kind of obvious. I didn't care for small talk this time.

"You know why we're here, don't you?"

"Oh how my Morrigan dances under the moon!" she said while she gazed to the sky. This woman was giving my a headache.

"Listen. Morrigan knows how you extend your unnatural lifespan."

"It is my Grimoire she seeks, is it not? I will propose a deal. You let me go and I will give you the Grimoire myself. She doesn't have to know you didn't actually killed me."

"So I should dance to your tune now? I don't think so. I promised this to Morrigan."

"Promises can be broken" Flemeth said. She started to get annoyed that I didn't accept her proposal.

"How sorry I am that I'm not like that." I sarcastically said. This triggered something in Flemeth and she ran away from the hut. Light started to build up around her and we saw her transforming into a High Dragon. I yelled for Alistair to go to the front lines to hold her back and Wynne to stay out of the way, but in reach to heal us all. Leliana had started to nock her arrows and I moved away from them so we wouldn't be in the same spot together. I took out my bow and nocked my arrow as well. Wynne was already busy healing Alistair and Leliana was firing her special fire arrows.

Alistair was doing well in the front lines and I pulled out the string of my bow and started firing my own fire arrows. They didn't seem to help much so I yelled for Leliana to change to close combat and without a thought she did as asked and ran to the dragon. She danced around it and stabbed it. It seemed to have more effect as the dragon tended to snap to Leliana. Suddenly it opened its mouth and lunged for Alistair.

"Finish it!" I yelled and Leliana took action upon that. She ran to the front of the beast which now had Alistair in its yaws. She jumped up and sliced open the throat. The dragon opened its mouth and Alistair dropped on the ground. He didn't move and I aimed for the eyes of the beast. Two arrows shot in perfectly and it fell down. Leliana thrusted the dagger in its head and I quickly ran to Alistair.

"Alistair!" I shouted while I looked at his wounds. The teeth had pierced through his armor and blood was flowing out of it fast. Wynne sat down beside me and immediately started healing him. I touched his face and prayed to the Maker he would survive. It took so long and I was so impatient. Alistair hadn't opened his eyes yet nor had he made a sound. He lied still where he fell and even though Wynne's healing seemed to work, tears builded up in my eyes.

"Don't you dare leave us." I whispered while I stroke his face. Not long after that he started coughing and wanted to get up. I held him back by pressing my hand on his chest so he wouldn't leave the ground.

"Not yet, love. Wynne is still healing you." I said with a smile on my face. He opened his eyes and looked at me. His hand came up and I kissed the back of it before holding it in my own. When Wynne was finished with her healing, she slowly helped him up. I removed the tears that fell with the back of my hand and stood up. I held out my hand for Alistair and after he got up he hugged me.

"We won? We did? Yaaaaay." he grinned.

"Stop playing around. I was really worried for you, you know!"

"I know." he said, suddenly very serious. He kissed my forehead and I saw Leliana coming up next to me. She held up the key, and the Grimoire. We had done as Morrigan asked and I could only hope nothing bad would come of this. I thanked Leliana for gathering the Grimoire and we walked back to camp. Morrigan was extremely pleased we had done as she asked and took the Grimoire from me without a question. Our next stop would be Denerim. We had a Landsmeet to attend!


	26. Political Games

**We're coming more and more to the Landsmeet itself. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! **

- Aveline POV -

When we arrived in Denerim, Arl Eamon was already waiting for us in his estate. It was huge and everbody was given their own room. As he wasn't aware of me and Alistair, he gave us both a seperate room. After all, as far as he knew I was pregnant with Teagan his child. Most of my companions went to their room to settle in. Arl Eamon, Alistair and I were still standing in the hall when the doors opened. Loghain came walking in with Arl Howe and Ser Cauthrien. I barely focussed on anyone else but Arl Howe when they came walking in.

He had a smirk on his face and I wanted nothing more than to kill him. Kill him for everything he'd done to me, to my brother, to my parents, to everyone he had murdered to get what he wanted. I felt the rage building up and my focus never left his face during the conversation between Arl Eamon and Loghain. Loghain was whining about the reasons why Arl Eamon had called the Landsmeet and it wasn't long until they stopped talking for a moment.

"Howe is a traiterous bastard and I demand he's stripped of the land he has forcefully taken."

"Ha! Your family is seen as traitors to the King. You have nothing to demand."

"How dare you talk like that to Arl Howe!" Ser Cauthrien said. Loghain held up his hand and told Eamon that this wouldn't be over. The three of them left and Alistair had to stop me from walking after Arl Howe. I turned around and looked up the hall. I started whispering to myself.

"Come with me, we need to talk." Arl Eamon said to Alistair and me. We both walked after Arl Eamon and entered the room. I could see a woman standing next to Arl Eamon and before I could ask who it was, Eamon begun talking.

"This is Erlina. She..."

"The Queen is held in Arl Howe's estate here in Denerim. She sent me here to ask your help." Erlina said.

"Why would she need our help?" I wondered out loud.

"Please help the Queen." Erlina said. "I can help you sneak in to Howe's estate without being seen." I looked at Arl Eamon and he nodded. He obviously wanted us the help the Queen.

"All right. What must we do?"

"Meet us at his estate. I will be at the entrance waiting for you." she said while she quickly walked out of the room. When I turned back to Arl Eamon he ensured us that the Queen was needed for a good outcome of the Landsmeet. Not that she would support Alistair, but she would go against her father. That was exactly what we needed so we agreed to get the Queen her help. We had to move through one more back road when we were stopped by a group.

"Oh ho! If it isn't the Grey Warden! I see you haven't brought Zevran with you? I would love to talk to him!" he said while he looked around. Not a moment later I could see Zevran appearing and I briefly wondered why he followed us in the first place.

"I am right here Taliesen." Zevran said.

"Ah. I heard you sided along with the Grey Warden. If you side against her now, I will make sure the Crows have you back again." I looked at the man on top of the stairs and he had just an evil grin on his face. I didn't trust him. I looked to Zevran and saw someone who I considered a friend and who I did trust even though we had a rusty start.

"Zevran is not coming with you." I tol him. "He doesn't need the Crows anymore."

"That might be what you think, but what does Zevran say of this?" I looked around and I knew there were rogues hiding in the shadow. In order to protect myself I needed to stay in the middle of my companions. I looked at Leliana and I knew she had noticed them as well. She nodded to me and I focussed back on Zevran, wondering what his answer would be.

"No, I do not wish to be a Crow anymore. Forget it, I am not coming with you."

"Have it your way." he said and he motioned for his men to attack us. I quickly stealthed and removed myself from the crowd and started nocking an arrow. While I shot from a distance, Leliana made sure not a single person was coming my way. Zevran focussed on the leader of the group while Alistair had the majority of the others on him. Wynne managed to heal everyone from a distance as well and while she finished healing everyone, the fight had come to an end. I looked at Zevran and noticed he had the leader on the ground and he was standing on top of him. Without a spoken word he sliced his throat and the man choked in his own blood. I walked to Zevran and put my hand on his shoulder. He turned around and smiled at me.

"I guess I am a free man now! Where to go! Where to go!" he grinned.

"How about you stick with me to fight the blight as agreed." I said while I gave him a wink. He nodded and our group continued to Howe's estate. Seeing the estate made me feel sick. I wanted nothing more than to throw up at the sight of it. I could see Erlina standing and we walked towards her. She motioned for us to follow, saying we would need to go through the back door. Before the front door were dozens of people. They weren't happy at all. We quickly moved to the back and despite the few guards who noticed and attacked us, we weren't discovered. Erlina gave us a soldier uniform and I frowned at her.

"I don't fit in here!" I whispered. She looked at me and lifted her shoulders.

"Let them say you are their prisoner?" she suggested. I sighed, knowing this would be our only option. Erlina distracted the guards while we waited in the bushes and when the soldiers left the back door we quickly ran into the estate. A few minutes later she had returned and guided us to the Queens room. A magic barrier was raised in front of it so she wouldn't escape and the Queen told us to go to Howe's room to get the key. There was a chance he would be in there so I already felt myself getting nervous. Would this be the moment where I could finally have my revenge?

Arriving in Howe's room, we noticed there was nobody in there. I looked around and saw a chest near his bed. I opened it and my eyes widened when I saw there were Grey Warden papers in it. I gave them to Alistair who looked at them briefly and put them in his pack. It seemed like there was a basement attached to his room as the door was wide open. I moved down into the basement and opened the door that was leading into the room after that. This caused the guard to look up in surprise. Hands suddenly grasped the guard and pulled him back to the celldoor. With an easy twist, the neck of the guard was snapped and the man opened the door with the keys of the guard. The lifeless body was dragged in and a few moments later a fully armored man walked out. My hands searched my bow. He noticed this and held his hands up.

"Thank you for your timely rescue, my friend." he said. "I am Riordan, a senior warden from Orlais." This man looked familiar. I blinked a couple of times and focussed on his face. I have seen him before.

"I am Aveline." I softly said back. "This is Alistair. We're Grey Wardens as well."

"Ah nice to meet you Brother and Sister. I am a Grey Warden as well."

"How did you end up here?" I asked.

"With some clever talk and a drug." he stated.

"We found Grey Warden papers by the way." Alistair said. "Are these yours?"

"Yes thank you. Now if you don't mind I will leave this place."

"We're staying at Arl Eamon's estate. I'm certain he doesn't mind having you there as well."

"Thank you, Alistair." Riordan said. "I wish you luck Sister." he said to me and he left. Not wanting to linger, I quickly walked further into the basement. We came across some kind of torture chamber, and I couldn't help me looking in. Maybe someone was in need of our help. It turned out I was right. A man lied on the torture device and he was guarded heavily. When the guards noticed us Alistair rushed in and made sure they were focussed on him. Leliana twirled around in close combat while I used my bow to kill those in my reach. While the others finished off the guards, I quickly walked to the man on the device to free him.

"Who are you! If my father sent me here as a joke, it was absolutely not funny!"

"We... Eh.. We're Wardens." I said, not being sure what he meant.

"I am Oswyn, son of Bann Sighard. Why are you here?"

"Arl Eamon has called for a Landsmeet."

"What? So there is going to be one after all. Then you have more reason to be here than anyone else. I will make sure our vote goes to your cause." He said while he put on his clothes as well as he could. He thanked us and left quickly. We left this room and I quickly heard some voices coming of another room nearby. I thought I recognized it and I moved closer to the door. As I kept on listening I started to remember who's voice that was. This is Arl Howe. My hands started to form fists against the door. He was talking to some guards so I knew he wasn't alone. I couldn't hold myself any longer and with force I pushed open the door. Arl Howe turned around and when he saw who was standing at the door he frowned.

"Ah. If it isn't Bryce Cousland's little spitfire. All grown up and still playing the man." he spit.

"I will kill you for what you've done."

"Is this about your family? Still? But I have done so much more than wipe your name from Fereldan memory." he grinned. His mage guards started to walk to the right side of me and Leliana came up to my right side to protect me from them. His other guards moved to his left side, which was covered from Zevran who was still with us. Alistair was right next to me to charge to Howe when needed.

"Your parents died on their knees. Your brother's corpse rots in Ostagar; and his brat was burned on a scrap heap, along with his Antivan whore of a wife. And what's left? A fool husk of a son/daughter likely to end his/her days under a rock in the Deep Roads. Even the Wardens are gone. You are the last of nothing. This is pointless... You've lost." he continued.

"I know your game. No shadows no lies. Just you and me." I intimidated.

"There it is, right there. That damned look in the eye that marked every Cousland success that held me would appear that you have made something of yourself after all. Your father would be proud. I, on the other hand, want you _and your unborn child _dead more than ever." With this Howe waved his hand and his guards started to attack. Leliana focussed on the mages and Zevran on the other guards while Alistair confronted Arl Howe. Howe wanted nothing more than to get through and kill me. I could tell as he kept his focus on me during Alistair's attacks. I moved to the back of the room and took my bow to take out the mages first. Zevran danced around his guards who had no chance.

After this he quickly moved to the mages. Their magic kept them alive a bit longer than the other guards, but they couldn't keep it up against two close combat rogues. Alistair then shield bashed Arl Howe against the wall and Zevran and Leliana took his arms and made sure he wouldn't move away from it. Alistair backed up and I closed in on Howe. I looked him in his eyes and all I could see was an urge for power. He was angry we crossed his plans. I closed my eyes for a second and took my dagger. I only had the vision of my parents in my mind where they were on the cold floor of Highever, getting killed by someone who they considered a friend.

I opened my eyes and a second later my dagger was stuck in his stomach. I kept looking at his face as I twisted the dagger around. He cried out in pain and I removed the dagger. I pushed it in his chest again, this time a bit higher and again I twisted it around. _You will suffer _I told him in my mind. I removed the dagger and for the last time I pushed the dagger in his chest. This time it landed straight in his heart. I removed it and Zevran and Leliana let Howe slide to the ground.

"Maker spit on you... I ... deserved...more." he managed to say before he hit the ground. I spit on his corpse and walked out of the room where I stood against the wall. Everything started to spin around me and I let myself slide down against it until I was sitting. Tears escaped from my eyes again and I hated myself for crying so much lately. Alistair quickly sat down next to me and took me in his arms.

"It's all right, love." he whispered. "You did it. You avenged your parents." The others decided to leave us alone for a while and continued to Anora her room where she was held. When we arrived at her room she was already waiting for us to move out of the estate. She seemed pleased that we had managed to free her and she was dressed as a soldier, something which caused me to grin uncontrollably. When we all walked out together, we were held back by a massive army. The leader was Ser Cauthrien. How in the Makers name could they be here so quickly.

"Grey Wardens, you are under arrest for the murder of Arl Howe. Surrender now or we will take you by force." she said. I gasped, surprised by her quick action. Arl Howe's body wasn't even cold but they were here. Did they know what we were up to? Automatically my hands wrapped themselves around my belly. I couldn't risk another fight which could possibly harm it.

"We'll... surrender." I said, looking down to the ground.

"What? Are you certain? You can stay back and we'll fight them!" Alistair whispered the last part of the sentence. I nodded to Alistair.

"I'm sure. I just can't... risk it. Plus if we fight it only makes us seem guilty even more." I said.

"Take the Grey Wardens. Loghain doesn't care about the others." Ser Cauthrien ordered. The guards came our way and I quickly backed up two steps. They hold my arms by force and did the same with Alistair. Leliana, Zevran and Wynne weren't held by the guards and they quickly ran out of the building. I knew they were heading to Arl Eamon's estate and hoped they would come up with a plan. The guards took us too Fort Drakon and I did my best to remember the way. Finally we arrived at some cells. I could see Alistair's head getting hit against the bars. When he was knocked out I cried out his name and they threw him in the cell. Finally they hit my head with the back of the sword which caused me to block out as well. My body did nothing anymore and my vision became nothing but darkness like a candle blown off in a dark room.


	27. Ripped Apart

**Here it is, my new chapter. Hope you enjoy! Do be warned that this chapter does not contain happy events!**

- Aveline POV -

I started to regain my mind again and I slowly became aware of my surroundings. I had a pounding headache and when I tried to sit up it only got worse. I opened my eyes and slowly let myself adjust to the light. I checked myself, and apart from the headache everything seemed all right. I was undressed however, and they left the small clothes on me. It made me feel very uncomfortable knowing someone had just removed my clothes. I stood up and walked towards the door. There was no way I could escape from here.

"Oh good, you're awake!"

"Alistair!" I was glad to see him and I ran over him to hold him.

"Are you all right?" I nodded and I touched the place where the bars of the cell hit his head. He winced and I quickly removed my hand from it.

"Sorry." I whispered. "How in the Maker's name are we getting out of here?"

"I don't know, but we can't run around naked like headless chickens." My eyes quikly spotted a chest near the door.

"Maybe our armor is in that chest over there." I said while I pointed towards it. Alistair nodded and I walked back to the door. I removed the pin that held a part of my hair together and started picking the lock. The door was open fast and I motioned for Alistair to follow me. Surprisingly the chest wasn't locked at all and we both started to dress ourselves in our armor again.

"We'll need to fight our way out of here." I told Alistair while I was equipping my weapons. He came closer to me and took my head in his hands.

"Are you sure you'll manage?"

"Of course. Besides, we have no choice." I said while I gave him a kiss. "Let's go." Not a moment later the door opened. I quickly ran behind it and a guard walked in. When the door closed, he still hadn't seen us. I motioned for Alistair to stay still and I stealthed up behind him. With my dagger I slit his throat and carefully put him on the ground. It was quick and soundless.

I went back to the door and peaked to the next room. Alistair ran in first and surprised the guards. The mabari was hanging on Alistair's leg and biting agressively. I nocked my arrow and aimed for the dog. I released the string and the arrow forced its way through the beasts head. There werent' many guards in the Fort which surprised me. We had fought are way through the first part and were now looking around the corner. If I remembered correctly there as a giant hall after the doors. Two guards were guarding the door and I knew more guards were in there as well.

I stood against the wall with my back and looked at Alistair. We both nodded to each other and he rushed in. I distracted the other guard and when he saw me he started moving towards me. I shot an arrow in his leg, but it didn't stop him. I nocked another arrow and shot it through his chest. He was very close to me and his eyes were widening. He fell on his knees and his sword dropped on the stone floor. I stepped back and the guard fell forward. Alistair had killed the other guard and I walked towards the door.

"There are quite a few guards in there..." I said. He caught my worried look and grabbed my wrist.

"Maybe we can pull them to this room one by one somehow. I could try and dress like on of the soldiers and tell them the commander needs to speak to them?"

"Good thinking, love! I saw an armory room back there." I said while I started walking to the room. The room was filled with stands equipped with soldiers armor and Alistair started changing. When he was in the soldiers armor he chuckled.

"A perfect fit! Very cute!" I said while I gave him a wink. He started blushing a bit and while laughing I walked back towards the great hall. Alistair put his own armor in the corner and sighed. He opened the door and I nocked an arrow. After a few moments he convinced two guards to come with him and they were walking to the room I was standing ready. The moment the door closed, Alistair thrusted his sword in the guard closest by him and I released my arrow to the other guard.

"Wow, that was easy." he said with a grin. "Well, the convincing part took me a while, but the killing was easy!" We waited a moment before Alistair would go in again, so it would seem like the guards had their time with the commander. Alistair used this time to remove the bodies of the killed guards. They were put around the corner. After a few minutes Alistair opened the door and I nocked a new arrow. This time three guards came with Alistair. When the door closed we did the same as with the first group. Alistair thrusted his sword in the back of the guard right next to him and I released my arrow to the other guard. The one left, who was walking in front of the group looked behind the second he heard Alistair unsheat his sword and attacked him straight away. Pushing the killed guard out of his way, he bashed Alistair against the wall. I released my arrow to soon and it hit the guard's leg. The guard turned around as Alistair slowly slided down the wall, being disoriented by the blow. He immediately walked over me and held his sword to my throat.

"You dare to shoot me?" he said while he looked down at me. "In your condition?" I stayed quiet and just looked him in the eyes. My hand carefully moved to the dagger attached to my side. Alistair made some sounds as he tried to move towards me. The guard looked over his shoulder towards him. I found my dagger and I immediately punched it in his stomach while my other hand took his hand which held the sword. Quickly looking back at me I removed the dagger and sliced his throat. The guard dropped on the floor right in front of me and I stepped over him to help Alistair up.

"Maybe this is getting too dangerous." I said. Alistair blinked a couple of times, shook his head and nodded.

"I agree."

"Maybe we should have done this straight away, but I think you can go and pretend you're a soldier? Just stand at the commander and report for duty. I can stealth my way through the room. Especially now we've killed a few guards." Alistair started walking to the Commanders room when a wave of pain hit me. I grabbed my belly which was the source and I felt I needed to hold on to the walls to avoid falling on my knees. Alistair heard my surpressed cry of pain and looked back. When he saw me standing with my hands on my belly he ran back to me.

"What's happening?"

"I... don't know. Hurry, just go!"

"What? I can't leave you alone when something is wrong?" I looked at Alistair.

"You can't do anything for me while we're still stuck in this damn Fort can you? Now, go! I'll manage to sneak out." I commanded. Knowing this was our only choice Alistair moved towards the Commanders office. Ten minutes later he was at the door with two other guards. He let the other guards in first and I sneaked in after them before Alistair closed the door again. I moved to the side of the room and avoided coming close to any of the remaining guards I could see.

Another wave of pain hit me out of nowhere again and I tried my best to keep my mouth shut as tight as I could. I leaned on the wall until it was over and tears started building up. Tears of worry. Tears of pain. Tears of the only thought I never wanted to think about. I tried to surpress them and when the pain faded a bit I moved further. Alistair was already at the door with the two other guards and this time they wanted to let him enter first. Trying to delay as much as he could he told them just to move in first. The guards refused and insisted that Alistair would move in before they did. If only out of a gesture of good will. I sneaked in front of Alistair and basically ran through the door as fast as I could in stealth.

I waited for Alistair at the main door and the two guards were walking towards the commanders room. Alistair ignored them and quickly opened the main door. Once outside I couldn't keep up stealth anymore and I saw Alistair's surprise when he saw me again.

"What are you doing!" he whispered.

"I can't keep it up anymore." I whispered back. "Guide me to the estate!" When we were far away enough from the Fort another wave hit me. This time I didn't hold back my cry of pain and it shocked Alistair. He looked down and he noticed a small stream of blood on my legs.

"Aveline... You're bleeding!" I looked up at him in shock.

"What?" I said while I looked down as well.

"Oh Maker! No!" I felt the need to sit down and cry for help instead of walking to Eamon's damn estate.

"Aveline, please we have to continue! Wynne is inside the esetate, she will be able to help you!" Tears were flowing freely now and when the pain faded away a bit again we started moving fast to Eamon's estate. Alistair was holding me as good as he could so I wouldn't fall down. When we arrived, the guards of his estate were running to open the doors as soon as they saw us coming in. In the main hall Wynne noticed us coming in.

"Aveline! What happened?" she said while she ran our way. A wave of pain caused me to ignore the question and cry out instead.

"Wynne. Help her! Please! She started having these pains just like that!" Alistair said. My knees started to get weak.

"I'm... not feeling.. so well.."

"Alistair, I will take her to her room. You have to go and get Zevran and Leliana!" Alistair did as asked straight away and ran to get Zevran and Leliana. In my room, Wynne made sure I stayed on the bed. Alistair came walking in with Zevran and Leliana. Leliana sat on my side as soon as she saw me.

"Zevran!" Wynne said. "You have to make sure, at all cost, Arl Eamon does not come anywhere near this room!" Zevran nodded and left the room. Alistair sat on my other side and held my hand.

"Wynne, what's happening?" he asked.

"Both of you, listen to me." Wynne said as she performed something magical on me. "You... are losing your child. That's what's causing the pains and the blood."

"No! Do something Wynne! I beg you!" I said.

"Oh.. I really wish I could." Wynne said.

"No! Do something! I'd do anything for my child!"

"I'm sorry, dear. The taint seems to cast it out of your body... Listen, Aveline. You really have to push when you feel another wave coming up."

"No! No... I won't do it, Wynne. I can't do it!" I cried.

"You can, trust me! You have to! You've lost too much blood to afford to ignore this." she said while she started spreading my legs. She motioned for Leliana to help her. They removed my underclothes so they could see the child coming out. Another pain wave hit me and I couldn't control my face. Wynne noticed this and Leliana was holding my legs.

"Push!" Wynne demanded. I shook my head.

"No! I don't want to lose my child." I softly cried. The pain wave softened again and I was able to regain my breath. Alistair cupped my face with his hand and made me look at him. His face was wet by his tears and it was tearing me apart even more to see how much he was hurt by what was happening. He started whispering to me, saying he loved me and that I needed to trust Wynne. Saying that he didn't want to lose me and that he would stick with me no matter what. Another pain wave came and I looked at Wynne.

"Push!" She demanded again. Reluctantly, I did as she asked and started to push as hard as I could. When the pain was over I released my breath again.

"That was good, dear. Do it again on the next one." It didn't take long and I started pushing again. After what seemed a long time I felt something coming out of my body and I started crying. Alistair kissed my forehead and rubbed my hand. Leliana let go of my legs and I could tell that she was emotional as well. She took a piece of cloth and gave it to Wynne. My eyes followed their movements and I could see Wynne picking something up. When I looked at Alistair I saw he had seen what they were holding and his head now hung low. His eyes were pushed together and I felt immensely guilty.

"I'm so very sorry, Alistair!" I whispered. "I don't know what I did wrong. Maybe I should have rested more." He looked up fast and his eyes widened.

"Oh no, Aveline. I don't believe it was your fault. You heard Wynne. The taint caused this." he whispered back. His voice was raspy. "I'm sure we can try again when we have both recovered. Maybe the Circle can help us next time." he said with a sad smile. Wynne stood up with the bundle and looked at me.

"I'm sorry." She said to both of us. She gave it to Leliana who made her way out of the room with it.

"I... have to know." I softly said. Leliana turned around and looked at Wynne.

"It's not fully developed, but we can clearly see it's a boy." Wynne said. I gazed to Alistair again who was still looking at Wynne.

"A boy." I whispered. I felt myself drifting away. "We had a son." I whispered to Alistair, who was now looking at me. He climbed on the bed with me and held me against him. Feeling his touch only made me want to sleep more. Not long after, I had entered the Fade.

_I was standing near the edge of a forest, and it was a warm and bright day. Alistair was right next to me and I felt happy. There was a small lake nearby and Alistair sat on the grass and ate some cheese. There was nobody around so we were the only ones in this area of the forest. Suddenly I heard laughter and a child ran my way. It was a young boy and when he came closer he ran to me and threw his arms around my neck. I felt an immense great love for this child. _

_I smiled and embraced the young boy. Alistair stood up and gave us both a kiss. Suddenly the boy released himself from my neck and ran away again. This time there was no laughter and clouds slowly covered the sky. I felt something was wrong and I saw the boy slowly disappearing as if he never excisted._

_I tried to run after him. "Why are you tormenting me so!" I yelled, but no sound came out of me. Alistair stopped me and embraced me tightly. We both looked at the area where we both saw the boy last. Everything seemed to go so very slow. Rain started to pour out of the sky and everything darkened. The forest became black and the lake water did the same until every bit around me was black._


	28. Wounds

**First of all, thanks to my readers for your patience! This chapter has taken me so incredibly long to complete! Somehow I didn't have the motivation to continue. Also thank you to Erynnar for always giving your reviews! They keep me from stopping the story! *hugs* for you sweetie! Anyway, now I have found my motivation again and the chapter is finally up! I hope you like it and I'm sure other chapters will follow accordingly ;-)**

- Aveline POV -

I woke up early by some noises in my room. The room was still dark by the curtains, but I could see the sun shining through little bits the curtain did not cover. I noticed the whole bed was different, they must have cleaned it while I was asleep which must have been very deeply. Servants were working in the room quietly and Wynne and Leliana were whispering them what to do. I slowly sat up in bed and Wynne walked towards me as soon as she noticed what I was trying to do.

"Carefull, dear." she said. She opened up the curtains and the room was filled with sunlight. It felt very nice and wrong at the same time. I looked around more and wondered where Alistair was. Before I could ask Wynne was sitting next to me.

"Do you think you can get up? We've got a nice bath set up for you." I nodded and moved my legs out of the bed. My feet touched the cold stone floor and I could still see dried up blood attached to them. Wynne caught my look and quickly took my hand so I would stand up. She guided me to the bath and looked at me.

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked. I shook my head. I did not feel like talking to anyone right now and I thought it would be best if I was alone. When she closed the door behind her, and everybody was out of the room, I undressed myself. I mindlessly tossed the clothes away and let myself slowly slide into the hot water of the bath. The warmth was nice. The blood had attached itself to my skin good, as it didn't fully remove from the water alone. I wanted to have it off so I rubbed my skin as hard as I could, as if my blood as to blame. In a way it was. My blood was tainted and the taint aborted everything.

_No, I don't want to think about it._ I washed myself and decided not to linger in the bath. I got dressed in some simple clothes I noticed earlier and walked out of my room. Wynne was standing right outside the door and looked at me when the door opened.

"Come, you need to eat." It annoyed me that she was acting so motherly. I walked with her and Wynne stayed close to me until we arrived in the kitchen. There a small breakfast had been set up already. I sat down behind it and started to peel on the bread. Wynne sat down next to me and looked at me. I put away the bread again and looked back.

"Where is Alistair?" I said.

"He's... in his room. Arl Eamon knows what happened. We can't risk yet that he knows you two are involved instead of you and Bann Teagan." I nodded and took the bread again. This time I started to eat from it.

"Aveline. I'd hate to say this, but Queen Anora has pointed us towards the Alienage to gather proof against Teyrn Loghain. She... also wants to talk to you." I closed my eyes and squeezed the bread I was still holding. _I had just lost... and now she wants...and to go to..._ When I opened my eyes again I threw the bread against the wall in anger and walked out of the kitchen. Anora had a room in the estate not far away from my own. When I arrived I threw open the door. Anora turned around to face me and put on one of her fake smiles.

"Warden. It's good to see you." I simply frowned. I had no intention of making this conversation more pleasant than needed. She quickly noticed this and continued.

"First of all, let me tell you that I'm sorry what happened to your parents. Eleanor in particular was very dear to me. It's appropriate Howe died at your hands." I crossed my arms.

"Also you have my sympathy of what happened to you and your child."

"What did you want to talk about, Anora." I stated.

"At the Landsmeet you will need my support to convince everyone my father has been wrong and I might need your influence as well."

"So you're suggesting I should vote for you instead of Alistair?"

"I am indeed. You will win your Landsmeet and I shall remain on the throne. We will both have what we want." I turned around and faced the door. We did need her help, but I wasn't too fond of her remaining on the throne. I sighed and knew what to do. I slightly looked back to Anora.

"All right. You have your deal."

"Thank you, Warden." she said as I walked out the room. I went to Alistair's room and when I stood in front of it, I checked if nobody saw me. Eamon didn't seem to be around and the other companions weren't here either. Without knocking I walked in his room and found Alistair sitting on his bed. He looked up when he heard the door open. I quickly closed it, but stood against the door, unsure if he wanted me here or not. Alistair stood up and walked towards me. He pushed me closer against the door while he started to kiss me.

"I have missed you last night." he said when he broke off the kiss. His hands traced my face and I got goosebumps from what he did. I looked down and slightly smiled.

"I have missed you too, my love." he lifted my head so I'd face him and he hugged me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. I lifted my shoulders for a second, and it told him enough.

"And you?"

"Same I suppose." I walked away from Alistair and sat down on the bed. I took out the ring Alistair gave me and started playing with it. His eyes traced my fingers on the ring.

"Do you still... you know... I mean after what happened..." I whispered. This shocked Alistair as he came towards me straight away.

"Of course I do! I love you with all my heart. What happened doesn't mean we can't try again! We will ask mages to help us so this won't happen anymore." I smiled. Even though he had a hard time dealing with it as well, he was always trying to be so positive! I put the ring away again and stood up.

"We ehm... have to investigate the Alienage to gather proof against Teyrn Loghain." I saw the look on Alistair's face. "I don't want to either, especially not now, but the Landsmeet is coming up soon and we need the evidence." Alistair nodded. He knew I wanted him with me. I moved out of the room with Alistair and searched for Wynne. When we found her she was talking to Leliana and Zevran. Leliana immediately ran over to hug me and Zevran expressed his sympathy as well. _Stop it already_. Wynne and Zevran agreed to join us to the Alienage and after I changed into something more protective we decided to leave straight away.

The alienage looked so sad to me. The houses looked old and there seemed to be some sort of a riot on the square as well. A red headed young lady was standing near the group and went against them. Mages blocked the entrance of a building. I walked to the young woman and she looked at me as if I resembled something incredibly horrible she ate.

"What do _you_ want, Shem! We have our own trouble to take care off."

"I came to help. What's happening?" I asked. The young woman relaxed a bit and worry crossed her face. She explained how sick people were taken into the building and never came out. She was afraid something was wrong and tried to explain that to the crowd outside. They weren't allowed in to see their relatives. Saying I would find out what was wrong, I left to the backside of the building. The young woman ran after me and grabbed my wrist. I turned around to look at her.

"They aren't just going to let you in!" she said.

"I wasn't going to ask." I said before moving on. There was just one single man guarding the backdoor and I walked to him.

"Hold there. You're not allowed in." Anger flared up inside me and I roughly pushed the man against the wall.

"Don't toy with me and hand over your key." I whispered as I was no more than an inch away from his face. He searched his pockets and I heard he found the keys. I quickly grabbed them and pushed the man out of my way. I didn't care what he was about to do, me and my companions were inside the building now. The second we walked in the guards attacked us. They dismissed the idea to warn us first. I took out my daggers and was eager to show them what I could do. Leaving the last few guards for the others I walked over to the desk. It contained nothing of value besides a small sack of coin which I took and a note. My head shot up when I heard noises coming from the other room. I slowly opened it, still holding on to my daggers, and quickly noticed that the noises were coming from a few elves who were captured and standing in their cage. I opened it and after thanking us they ran away.

Something fishy was going on and I didn't like the smell of it at all. I moved outside through the back door again and noticed the young woman named Shianni was already standing there, waiting for us. I gave her the note and told her a key was attached to it. She guided us to the apartments and we continued our search. It turned out that everything was a set up and the elves were shipped as slaves. This would be valuable proof against Loghain. The Landsmeet wouldn't accept him shipping elves from the alienage and selling them as slaves. In the last room we found Valendrian. We had killed the man who was behind all of this despite his efforts to stay alive and offer us help in the form of bloody blood magic. The freed elves quickly moved out of the building and I gathered the last evidence we needed for the landsmeet.

When we arrived back at the estate Arl Eamon notified us that we should get ready. We were already running late and he would leave immediately to the Landsmeet. The second we opened the doors of the building Cauthrien looked back and immediately walked towards us while taking our her sword. I stood in front of the group which consisted of Alistair, Wynne and Leliana. We persuaded her to stand down and let us go through the Landsmeet doors. Everything else was a blur for me. When we walked in the room they had already started. Loghain was talking and I could see Arl Eamon standing on the balcony at the side of the room. It was filled with nobles and their attention was at Loghain. When he spotted us however he pointed at me and began rambling to me. Questioning where his daughter was after I threw in my evidence about the alienage. I could see the surprise on his face when Anora walked in the room, unharmed of course.

When the nobles were asked to vote I barely took in our victory. Loghain looked at me and I knew I had to best him in order to finalize the outcome. I would do this fight alone, even though I knew it could be my death. The others backed up and we were given room for the fight. Loghain stared down and me and I saw a grin spreading on his face. When the fight begun I charged at him, avoiding his form at the last moment we would bash against each other, and cut his right arm. This caused him little harm as he grabbed my wrist and pushed me against him. Victory was already showing in his eyes as he looked down at me.

"Couldn't even manage to keep your child, I see?" he whispered. He pushed me off him and I had to do my best not to fall over. Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried as much as I could to keep them back. I looked back at him. _Fucking asshole_. He charged at me and I blocked his sword with my two daggers. I threw away his sword and punched him in his face. I circled around him and stealthed behind him. After a long fight, full with hating comments to each other, he was finally down at his knees. I stood in front of him and looked down. The second I wanted to take his own sword to kill him, Riordan came walking in the room.

"Wait! You do not have to kill him. Make him a Grey Warden. They are needed and no matter what he has done, he's still a great general." Alistair was in shock when he stated Riordan crazy. I couldn't believe him either and bluntly refused to make him a Grey Warden. That was a position that was to be earned and all that Loghain earned was his head being seperated from his body. I turned around to face Alistair and he nodded. I took the two handed sword and raised it. Anora tried to keep me from swinging the sword at her father, but it was no good. With all the strength I had left I removed Loghain his head from his shoulders. Anora was defeated and fell near her fathers corpse in grief. I felt nothing for her. He deserved this. As the guards removed the body, Arl Eamon held his speech that Alistair should be King. When Alistair reacted in surprise Anora took it as a hint he did not want to be King at all.

Finally he asked me for advice and I started pacing. I looked at Alistair and he smiled and nodded to me. He was prepared for this job. Then I looked at Anora. I remembered her promise and she also nodded to me. I looked at Arl Eamon, ready to make my decision.

"Alistair should be King!" I said. Arl Eamon smiled and he declared to all present in the Landsmeet that it was decided. Alistair moved forward and took my hand. I saw Arl Eamon's response. He was confused. Alistair made me face him and talked so everyone could hear it.

"Aveline! Do you accept to be my Queen?" I accepted and saw the shock at Arl Eamon was now complete. After he held his speech that we would face the battle together he turned to face Arl Eamon.

"Eamon. What you have done to Aveline is unacceptable. You will surely be punished for this. I will send out guards with you to stay at your castle in Redcliffe and you're to stay there until I've decided what to do with you. Bann Teagan will run the castle on your behalf for this period." When he wanted to protest against it Alistair held up his hand. "Also Isolde is not free of blame either. After your child is born she also will face her punishment. She is to stay at the castle just like you... guarded." With this we walked out of the Landsmeet chamber. After collecting our things at the estate in Denerim, we all would move to Redcliffe to decide our battleplan there.


	29. Betrayal

Aveline POV

When we arrived in Redcliffe everyone was already in the main hall. Including Arl Eamon. Riordan was standing by the fire and we barely got any rest when he told us that the Archdemon was seen. It was heading to Denerim. I cursed at myself for not staying there. We just came from there and now it faced the danger of the Darkspawn? We would move out the next morning and I felt proud at Alistair for taking the lead on that. He would be a great King! Riordan moved to his rooms to get some rest before the battle, but not before letting us know he had to talk to us. Everyone else went their own way to get their rest and prepare themselves when Arl Eamon walked towards me.

"What... happened?" he carefully said. "I thought you were together with Bann Teagan, that you carried his child. That it was his child you've lost." A frown crossed my face.

"No Eamon. I was never together with Teagan, you only made it look like I was. The child was Alistair's and if you value your life you will never talk about this ever again." I said as I moved to Riordan his room. I was fed up with this and wondered how much more I could take. Alistair gave me a kiss before we moved in Riordan his room. He stood in front of us and sighed.

"I do not know how much you've been told, but do you know why a Grey Warden has to slay the Archdemon?"

"It probably has got something to do with the taint in our blood?" I said. He nodded saying it was exactly what it involved. He said that a Grey Warden would also die when it had slain the Archdemon, as its soul and the soul of the Grey Warden could not excist in one and the same body. Riordan said he would take the final blow as he was the Senior Warden of the three of us and it was almost his time as well. I shook my head and faced the floor. This did not feel right. After he suggested to get some rest we moved out of his room. I had to let the information we just received sink in. Alistair already went to his room to get his things. We would spend the night together as it would be our last one before the battle. I opened the door of my room and felt confused when I saw Morrigan standing there. I closed the door while keeping an eye on Morrigan.

"Do not worry, Warden. 'Tis only I." she said.

"Yes I can see that. Is something wrong Morrigan? You did get your own room, didn't you?"

"Yes I did. That is not why I'm here about though. I know what you must do. I know what it takes to kill the Archdemon. A Warden had to die and the chance is large that Warden can be you."

"What is your point Morrigan." I got annoyed. What plan did she have in her mind? I crossed my arms and looked at her.

"My point is that I'm offering you a way out. So you will live. Along with your precious Alistair."

"What are you talking about! You know, as well as I do, that there's no way to do that. If there would be, I'm sure there's a catch somewhere." Morrigan moved from the fire and sat down on the bed.

"Listen to me all right? If you do not like what I'm saying we won't talk about anymore."

"Fine. Continue."

"You will convince Alistair to lie with me." My eyes widened. I shook my head, asking myself if I heard it correctly. "By this ritual, I shall conceive a child. A child with the soul of an old god."

"Are you mistaking me for a fool? I can't let you do that!"

"_You _are the fool here, Aveline! Don't you think you will come out of this fight unharmed! I am offering you a way out. Do not be so stubborn and convince Alistair instead!"

"So you can have his child? I don't think so, Morrigan!"

"Do you think he will let you take the final blow? Do you think he will let you sacrifise yourself and only to watch you do it? You need to snap back to reality girl, because that is not what's going to happen!" I could feel my anger boil. I turned around, away from Morrigan. Who did she think she was. I walked towards the fire.

"So this is why you came along with us? To betray us and to gain your own ghoulchild? And you say this so casually after I've just lost mine?"

"The child will not bear anything of the taint. I have to admit though, that this was the reason for joining you yes." I lowered my head. I felt defeated and betrayed. I considered Morrigan as a friend after all this time and she just threw it away like it was nothing. "Aveline, trust me. In this early stage the child will absorb the Archdemon's soul and will let you live. After the battle I shall leave and never return. Alistair won't get to know the child and I have no intentions of returning.

"I will give you no chance to, Morrigan." I turned around and saw her standing behind me. "I cannot let you do this. I will not agree."

"Then you're a fool to willingly choose death over live!" Morrigan transformed into a wolf and she escaped out of the castle. I ran to the door and slammed it behind her. I backed up and let myself slide down against the door. Tears were flowing over my cheeks and I faced the fire. This was going to be my last evening and Morrigan just had to run in here to betray me. Betray all those who trusted her on the journey towards the end of the blight. I knew in my heart that I had done the right thing. I only regretted taking Morrigan with us from the start. I regretted letting her in my heart and causing me so much grief. I sighed and with the back of my hand I removed my tears. There was no way Alistair hadn't heard that and not a minute later it turned out I was right. I was standing near the door as it opened. Alistair walked in with his pack and put it next to the bed.

"What's wrong, love? I heard you yell from the hallway. What was Morrigan up to?" I threw myself into Alistair's arms and I couldn't stop the tears anymore. Alistair simply stood there, in silence. He didn't say a word, but just offered me comfort. His embrace was so very trusting, it always had been. I looked into his eyes and he looked right back at me. He smiled a little and stroked my hair with his hands. He gave me a gentle kiss on the lips before guiding me to bed.

"You must be tired, love. Do you want to sleep?" he asked.

"I'd like to talk, Alistair. I need to tell you what Morrigan told me before she left."

"She left? What do you mean. I did see her running out as a wolf, but I thought that was just part of the weird Morrigan herself instead of actual leaving?"

"She's gone and she won't help us in the battle either." I was now sitting on the bed, with the blankets over my feet. I had already removed my boots in the process and Alistair was sitting next to me. I put my head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat before continueing. "When I came into my room after Riordan told us what we had to do, she was standing near the fire. She told me that she had a way out so I could live. Somehow she knows how an Archdemon is defeated, Alistair." I sighed. "She told me that I had to convince you to lie with her. That the ritual would conceive a child, which would bear an ancient soul. An uncorrupted soul. She would disappear after the battle and you would never see her or the child ever again."

"Eww, did she really ask that? Thank the Maker you didn't agree to that, love. I couldn't have stand it, laying with Morrigan." Alistair shivered. "I only want you Aveline, and there is no guarantee that you will have to take the final blow."

"Somehow I know that I will have to take it." I thought back about the weird dream I had so many nights ago. Riordan died, falling of the Archdemon's back. I knew I was going to be the one.

"Aveline?" Alistair traced my face with his fingers, and I closed my eyes to enjoy the feeling. He took my chin and made me face him. He slowly kissed me on my lips and he traced his fingers down to my neck. "I want you tonight. Just in case we might never have this chance anymore." he said. I smiled and I agreed to his request. Later that night I had woken up. Thoughts kept coming back in the back of my mind, telling me that I would probably have to take the final blow. I couldn't let Alistair take if for me, and I knew he would want to come fight the Archdemon as well instead of staying back at the front lines. I sighed and I looked outside through the window from my bed. I had to do something he definately wouldn't like.

~o~

The next morning everyone was up early. I barely ate, but I decided to take some with me. I would need all my strength for the final battle. The men were already standing ready outside. We made way to Denerim with our army. All over Ferelden people would help us. The elves were on their way and the dwarves were too. The Redcliffe soldiers were already here with us, as we left the castle with them and the mages were already here as well. Denerim was in chaos and after Alistair had his Kingly speech to the army we moved forward. The first thing we saw was the Darkspawn army. They had taken over the entrance and when we arrived they had a man captured. The sword of the Darkspawn was touching his throat. It was as if the Darkspawn had a mind of its own and was laughing at us. Suddenly he sliced the throat of the man he held in his hands, and tossed the man on the ground while he was choking. I moved forward to try and stop him, but stopped after seeing the man dying. The army charged at the group and I ran in front with them, as were the other of my companions. After killing their front line I saw even more Darkspawn. I didn't let that get to me and continue to slay as many as I could. I even counted them in my head. 32... 33...34... Zevran, Leliana Sten and Shale were heading to the east to clear that area, so I moved west with some Redcliffe men and Alistair Feonar and Wynne. Wynne had little trouble keeping up with the healing, so she decided to cast some offensive spells as well. 48...49... When the area was cleared Riordan signalled to us. We ran towards him and he told us we needed to move forward. I had to take three other people with me and leave the rest to defend what we just taken.

I chose Alistair, Wynne and Zevran to join me for the final battle. We would move forward together and Oghren would lead the group which stayed behind. Feonar slowly walked to me and I sat down to face him.

"You be good now boy, all right? Leliana will take care of you. Listen to hear as good as you listen to me. Protect her as good as you have protected me." I petted him on the head and stood up again. Leliana now was standing with me and without notice she hugged me.

"The Maker sure had great plans in mind for you, Aveline. I am honored to have joined you on this journey. Good luck with the Archdemon." she said before crushing me once more in another hug. Ogrhen saluted me, and I suspected him to be drunk. Then again, when wasn't he drunk! Sten came up to me. The man who never seemed to smile. He smiled now though and he stood up straight.

"Kadan. It has been an honor to fight be your side." he said before he left. I surpressed a giggle and was now facing Zevran.

"I am going with you to face the Archdemon. We'll show him who's better!" he said. It seemed like he was really looking forward to the fight. Shale came up next.

"It is only to hope something as squishy as it will not be crushed by the Archdemon!" I laughed.

"I hope not either, Shale." Wynne moved towards me and took my shoulders. She had a soft smile on her face, as if she knew what this day would be costing.

"You have a great battle lying ahead of you, but we will not forget the great battles you have already fought. I am honored to have been your friend and to be in the final battle with you." I nodded to Wynne and I turned around to face Alistair. He took my hips and pulled me close.

"I am worried for this battle, but know that I'm here with you. I won't leave you, all right?" My only response was a deep kiss. "I love you, Alistair." I said.

"I love you too." This was it. We had to leave now. Riordan instructed us that we needed to kill two generals before facing the Archdemon and so we would. While we moved away from the others and all of the soldiers were cheering for us. Wishing us luck in our fight against the Archdemon. Our first mission was kill the general on the Market Place. Denerim was a mess and paths were blocked though we found our way to the Market Place quite easily. When we arrived I blew on the horn I was given for Dwarven help. We were standing at the entrance until the first ones arrived and then moved forward. Two giant ogres came running our way and Alistair was already heading to the first one. I stunned the second one to buy us more time. I could see the general from here, and he was sending more Darkspawn towards us. The second ogre broke free of his stun and came running at me. I let myself slide under his legs and stood up. I was now behind him so I jumped and thrusted my daggers in its back. Zevran finished the job while Alistair and I already were moving forward. The dwarves had taken care of the rest of the Darkspawn and the General was now free for us to attack.

Alistair charged in while Zevran and I moved into the shadows for a surprise attack. Zevran came out and tried to stun the general. I could see the surprise on his face when the general simply kicked him away. Alistair had a hard time with the general I could tell. I backstabbed the Darkspawn along with Zevran. We were like a dancing team, moving around a single focus point. But then with daggers, wearing armor, and agressive looks instead of the gracious parading it should have been. I sighed when the General was finally laying dead on the ground and I searched through its armor. When we had what was needed we moved forward to the second general, which would be at the Market Place. When we were halfway there we noticed a messenger running our way.

"My Lady." he was gasping for air. "This is a message from our front lines. Do I need to send something in return?" I opened the letter quickly and read that Darkspawn had tried to take over the front lines, but that they were holding. Knowing we were still holding Denerim I faced the messenger.

"You may return and tell them the first general has died and we're now moving towards the Alienage. After that we're entering the Fort." The messenger nodded and quickly ran away. It was no surprise this man became a messenger. One moment he was here and the next he was gone.


	30. The Final Battle

**I am not going to say much here really other than enjoy! And don't hesitate to leave your reviews ^_^ **

Aveline POV

The elven rangers had come to our assistance and the fight went quite well. We did lose a number of people and I was saddened for their deaths. The Archdemon was standing in the middle of the tower and was weakened. We had used the machines to get it down and now it was. Everything seemed to have slowed down from here. I felt the peace even before it had arrived. I looked up to the air and I knew this was it. This was what we had all been fighting for. The Archdemon was hurt too bad to make another serious move on us. I looked back and I smiled to Wynne. I was thankful that she had been here for this journey. My eyes searched Zevran. Once the crow who was ordered to assassinate us, now my true friend. I ended with Alistair. I loved him so much and my love was exactly the reason why I had to kill the Archdemon. I knew he didn't want me to and I knew he would stop me if he was able to. I walked up towards him and I kissed him. I felt a tear breaking through my eyelids and I broke the kiss off. It was long and yet too short. I smiled at him while I motioned to Wynne.

"Paralize him." I ordered. This was the last order I would give. While Wynne did as asked I could see pain in Alistair's eyes. He realized too late Wynne would actually do as I asked her and forgot to stop Wynne.

"You'll be a great King, my love." I said while I ran to the sword which was sticking out of the ground. I took it while I ran even faster to the Archdemon. I yelled it out and I slashed open the throat of the beast. I now stood next to the Archdemon and I raised my sword. With one last look at Alistair I pushed the sword in the Archdemon's head. Light immediately rose up the sky, signalling everyone the beast had been slain. The soul was dying. I was dying. With a blast I was thrown away from the Archdemon as was everyone else. I ended up hitting the walls of the Fort after which I fell to the ground.

I looked at Alistair's direction and saw him getting up and running towards me. The paralize spell of Wynne had ended, and in my mind I thanked Wynne for her help. I could see tears were spoiled on those lovely cheeks of Alistair while he ran towards me. Then everything faded.

Alistair POV

She was saying goodbye to all in her mind, I could tell by the way she looked at Wynne and Zevran. Finally she looked up at me and she walked towards me. She gave me the most precious and soft kiss I had ever received from her and I wished it could have lasted forever. My mind knew better, but my heart broke when she broke the kiss. It was too soon. She ran a hand over my face and I saw her motioning to someone behind me. She smiled to me and then she said "Paralize him." I looked to her, confused, until I realized what she was talking about.

She was going to kill the Archdemon and didn't give me the chance to do it instead. It would be the one thing I could do to be a good King. I could have explained that to her and kill it myself. I tried to move, but Wynne had already cast the spell. Slowly she backed up while saying I would be a great King. She turned around and ran to the Archdemon. I could only look at her with pain in my heart knowing I'd lose her. She picked up the sword on her way and when she reached the Archdemon she sliced its throat. I wanted to scream! I wanted to call her name!

She gave me one more look before the raised her sword. I wanted to stop her! I wanted to hold her! I wanted that we had a way out! She thrusted the sword in the head of the Archdemon and we saw a light going straight up in the sky. I could see the pain she was in and not long after a blast followed. The blast pushed us all away and we all fell. It had removed the Paralize spell and I immediately stood up and ran to Aveline. Tears had started to stream down on my face, but I didn't care. I saw her looking at me and I could swear I saw a little smile.

When I arrived at her she wasn't awake anymore. I screamed out loud and my grief took over. Wynne had arrived by my side. I couldn't be mad at Wynne for following Aveline's orders. I knew she was doing it for our own good. Wynne let magic flow in her fingers and I looked at her. I saw she was surprised, yet utterly worried.

"She's not yet gone, Alistair." Wynne said as she started to magically check Aveline.

"Do we have more mages who can help us?" I said. My voice was raspy and my eyes felt as if they had been crying forever. Wynne looked at me, and the worry didn't leave her face.

"I don't think so, Alistair." I shook my head. Everyone had arrived on top of the Fort to see if we had survived and I saw their shock when they saw Aveline on the floor.

"Teagan! Make sure to get more mages here, now!"

"Alistair, there are no mages nearby. They are all back at the front lines. I can try to get them over here as soon as possible, but I don't know if they'll be here in time."

"Go, go!" I yelled to him. We had to try. I saw Wynne's magic flowing through her hands even more.

"What is wrong? Wynne!" Wynne shook her head.

"Alistair, her heart is slowing down even more. It's not beating in a regular pace anymore. It's going far too slow for her to stay alive."

"No, no! You must be wrong. Try again, Wynne!" I said with an urgent tone.

"Alistair, she is not winning the fight with the soul of the Archdemon. Her heart is giving up as is her mind." she whispered.

"No." I cried. "You're wrong! Aveline! Don't give up love. Please. You promised to be my wife." I whispered in between sobbing.

"I can't do anything anymore." she continued. "I'm sorry." Wynne slowly backed up and with a last look back, she went to stand with the other companions who were with us. I took Aveline in my arms and held her hand. I traced her face with my fingers. Aveline was frowning sometimes. Her breathing was shallow and stopped once in a while. It pained me to see her in pain. I took her hand in my own and I started praying. About five minutes later she started to stirr. She was trying to catch her breath and I couldn't do more than to see her struggling. She was fighting a fight she'd never win. Aveline didn't stop and it came into my mind that her heart was really giving up. I was scared. I had never been so scared in my life.

"Love." I couldn't believe I was about to say this. "Don't worry about me. It is your time to leave. I will be a great King, this I promise you." I whispered. I kissed her hand. "I'll love you always, and that love will never go away. I will see you in the fade one day, and you'll be in my dreams every night. Every day you will be with me. Go meet our son, love." Her fighting slowed down and a moment after she had her peace. Her head was facing mine and her frown was gone. She was so beautiful. I kissed her lips and bursted out in tears again. I screamed. This feeling was horrible. There was nothing I could do. There was nothing that could bring her back. Wynne came back to me, as did the others. Wynne moved to Aveline and put her hands over each other. While she was doing that, she picked something out of her armor. Something I hadn't seen. It was the rose I picked for her in Lothering.

I cried out in pain. I couldn't believe she was gone. The only person I could imagine spending my life with. After a few minutes I stood up and held Aveline's body in my arms. I turned around to face our companions and saw their grief. They all cared so much about her as well. I looked at Aveline and she looked so peaceful. She had so much pain to endure. With my love in my arms I moved out of the Fort. Aveline would be buried like the Hero she now was. Aveline, the Hero of Ferelden. Who gave her life to save Ferelden and its new King. She would get her own tomb where the people could pay their respect to her. Flowers would praise the tomb, but there was one that sticked out. The rose from Lothering. On the stone tablet, people would find the following engraving below the inscripted rose.

_Aveline Cousland. Hero of Ferelden. Beloved daughter, sister, friend, lover and Grey Warden. She, who gave her life in order to defend her country and its people. May she be remembered forever._

Herewith ends the story of Aveline.

~o~

This is the end of my story. Thank you very much for sticking with me. I sincerely hope that you have enjoyed it! For those who left reviews, you have more than my thanks. Those reviews, no matter how little it was, did keep me going to the end.


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